Full text of "Early Mormon Documents: Volume 3"

See other formats

EARLY MORMON

DOCUMENT

Volume hi

COMPILED AND EDITED BY

DAN VOGEL

Signature Books
Salt Lake City

JACKET DESIGN BY SCOTT KNUDSEN

oo Early Mormon Documents, Volume III, was printed on acid-free paper
and was composed, printed, and bound in the United States.

Signature Books is a registered trademark of Signature Books, Inc.

13 12 11 10 09 7 6 5 4 3 2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Early Mormon documents / compiled and edited by Dan Vogel

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-56085-133-3 (v. 3)

1. Mormon Church — History — Sources. 2. Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints — History — Sources. 3. Smith, Joseph, 1805-1844 —
Family — History — Sources. 1. Vogel, Dan
BX8611.E19 2000
289.3’09— dc20

http://www.signaturebooks.com

94_40565

CIP

CONTENTS

Part hi. {Conti nued)

Introduction . ix

I. MISCELLANEOUS EARLY SOURCES

1. Eli Bruce Diary, 5 November 1830 . 3

2. William W. Phelps to E. D. Howe, 15 January 1831 . . 5

3. Palmyra Residents to Painesville (OH) Telegraph,

12 March 1831 . 8

4. Nathaniel W. HoweU and Others to Ancil Beach,

January 1832 . 11

5. William W. Phelps Account, 1833 . 17

6. Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833 . 20

7. Jesse Townsend to Ehsha Camp, 16 August 1834 . 24

8. W. W. Phelps to Oliver Cowdery, 25 December 1834 . 28

9. W. W. Phelps to Oliver Cowdery, 21 February 1835 . 31

10. J. N. T. Tucker Statement, 1842 . 34

J. MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

1. Solomon Chamberlain Accounts, 1845 & Circa 1858 . 39

2. Orsamus Turner Account, 1851 . 46

3. Dr. Williams Account, 1854 . 55

4. Manchester Resident Reminiscence, 8 August 1856 . 59

5. Pomeroy Tucker Reminiscence, 1858 . 62

6. Ezra Thayre Reminiscence, 1862 . 73

7. Stephen S. Harding to Pomeroy Tucker, 1 June 1867 . 82

8. Pomeroy Tucker Account, 1867 . 87

9. Philetus B. Spear Account, Circa 1873 . 129

10. Palmyra Resident Reminiscence, Circa 1876 . 132

11. Parley Chase to [James T. Cobb?], 3 April 1879 . 135

12. Abel D. Chase Statement, 2 May 1879 . 137

13. Orlando Saunders, WiUiam Van Camp, and

John H. Gilbert Interviews with Frederick G. Mather,

July 1880 . 139

14. Anna Ruth Eaton Statement, 1881 . 146

CONTENTS

15. Stephen S. Harding to Thomas Gregg, February 1882 . .152

16. Gordon T. Smith Reminiscence, Circa 1883 . 167

17. William H. Cuyler Statement, 1884 . 169

18. Alexander McIntyre Statement, Circa 1884 . 171

19. Samantha Payne Statement, Circa 1884 . 173

20. Lorenzo Saunders to Thomas Gregg, 28 January 1885 . 175

21. E. E. Baldwin to W. O. NorreU, 3 August 1887 . . . 180

22. Palmyra Resident Account, 2 October 1888 . 184

23. William Hyde Interviews, 1888 . 186

24. Orson Saunders Account, 1893 . 200

25. Palmyra-Manchester Residents Account, 1893 . 203

26. Daniel Hendrix Reminiscence, 1893 . 208

27. Philana A. Foster to E. W. Taylor, 16 July 1895 . 218

28. Albert Chandler to WiUiam Linn, 22 December 1898 . 221

29. A. C. Buck Reminiscence, 1899 . 224

30. Charles W. Brown Account, 1904 . 228

31. W. C. Account, 1904 . 235

32. Carlos Osgood Statem.ent, Circa 1907 . 237

33. Elisha W. Vanderhoof Account, 1907 . 239

34. Charles F. Milliken History, 1911 . 241

35. Thomas L. Cook History, 1930 . 243

36. Wallace Miner Reminiscence, 1930 . 251

37. Wallace Miner Reminiscence, 1932 . 254

38. Carlos Osgood Statement, 1932 . 257

39. Mitchell Bronk Account, 1948 . 259

40. Parshall Terry Family History, 1956 . 261

41. Palmyra Resident Reminiscence, No Date . . 263

42. Mrs. Palmer Reminiscence, No Date . 265

K. MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

1. Rochester (NY) Gem, 15 May 1830 . 271

2. Wayne County (PA) Inquirer, Circa May 1830 . 274

3. Geauga (OH) Gazette, Circa 23 November 1830 . 275

4. Rochester (NY) Gem, 25 December 1830 . 277

5. David S. Burnett Account, 1831 . 278

6. James Gordon Bennett Account, 1831 . 281

7. Illinois Patriot, 16 September 1831 . 292

8. Broome County (NY) Courier, 29 December 1831 . 293

9. Lockport (NY) Balance, 1832 . 297

CONTENTS

10. William E. McLellin to Samuel McLellin, 4 August 1832 . 299

11. Eber D. Howe Account, 1834 . 302

12. Mary A. Noble Autobiography, Circa 1834-1836 . 308

13. Joseph B. Noble Autobiography, Circa 1834-1836 . 310

14. John Barber and Henry Howe Account, 1841 . 312

15. James Colin Brewster Account, 1843 . 315

16. Parley P. Pratt Autobiography (Part I), Circa 1854 . 319

17. Thurlow Weed Reminiscences, 1854, 1858, 1880 Sc 1884 . 327

18. Thomas Ford Account, 1854 . 332

19. Brigham Young Accounts, 1855 Sc 1857 . 335

20. Emer Harris Account, 1856 . 339

21. Parley P. Pratt Reminiscence (Part I), 1856 . 342

22. Thomas B. Marsh Autobiography, 1857 . 346

23. Phineas Howe Young Autobiography, 1863 . 350

24. Heber C. Kimball Autobiography, 1864 . 355

25. Silas Hillman Reminiscence, 1866 . 359

26. Hamilton Child Account, 1867 . 361

27. Thomas Davies BurraU Reminiscence, 1867 . 363

28. W. H. McIntosh, History of Ontario County (NY), 1876 . 366

29. W. H. McIntosh, History of Wayne County (NY), 1877 . 371

30. Brigham Young Account, 1877 . 378

31. Henry O’ReiUy Reminiscence, 1879 . 383

32. Edward Stevenson Reminiscence, 1893 . 386

33. Perry Benjamin Pierce Statement, 1899 . 389

34. Sara Melissa IngersoU Reminiscence, 1899 . 390

35. Wayne County (NY) Journal, 23 April 1908 . 397

36. Lockwood R. Doty History, 1925 . 399

37. Elizabeth Kane Interview with Brigham Young,

Artemisia (Beaman) Snow, and Orrin Rockwell,

1872-1873 . . . 402

L. MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

1. Palmyra (NY) Road Lists, 1817-1822. . . . 411

2. Palmyra (NY) Highway Survey, 13 June 1820 . 415

3. Farmington (NY) Census Record, 1820 . 422

4. Smith Manchester (NY) Land Records, 1820-1830 . 424

5. Gain C. and Cains C. Robinson Account Books, 1820-1830 . . . 432

6. Smith Manchester (NY) Land Assessment Records,

1821-1823 Sc 1830 . . . 441

vii

CONTENTS

7. Samuel Jennings Estate Papers, 1822. . . 446

8. Alvin Smith Gravestone, 19 November 1823 . 449

9. Palmyra (NY) Masonic Records, 1827-1828 . 452

10. Lemuel Durfee Account Books, 1827-1829 . 457

11. Joseph Smith Receipt to Abraham Fish Account,

10 March 1827 . 460

12. Book of Mormon Copyright, 11 June 1829 . 461

13. Testimony of Eight Witnesses, June 1829. . 464

14. Martin Harris Mortgage, 25 August 1829 . 473

15. Joseph Smith and Oliver Cow^dery Bible Inscription,

8 October 1829 . . 478

16. Book of Mormon Preface, 1829. . . . 479

17. Joseph Smith, Sr., and Martin Harris Agreement,

16 January 1830 . . . . . 483

18. Lemuel Durfee Probate Papers, 1830 . 486

19. Nathan Pierce Docket Book, 1830. . . . 487

20. Palmyra (NY) Presbyterian Records, March 1830 . 496

21. Manchester (NY) Census Record, 1830 . 502

22. Missionaries Covenant, 17 October 1830 . . 504

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . 507

INDEX . 517

Illustrations

1. Joseph Smith, Sr., Home, Manchester, New York,

photograph . . . . 12

2. Hill Cumorah, Manchester, New York, photograph . . . 63

3. Daniel Hendrix, photograph . 209

4. Manchester Assessment Record, photographic reproduction .... 442

5. Samuel Jennings Estate Papers, photographic reproduction . 448

6. Alvin Smith Gravestone, photograph . 450

7. Palmyra Masonic Record, photographic reproduction . 454

8. Palmyra Masonic Record, photographic reproduction . 455

viii

INTRODUCTION

This third volume of Early Mormon Documents follows volume two in
gathering published and unpublished sources relating to Mormon origins in
Palmyra and Manchester, New York. The previous volume included the
major document collections of Philastus Hurlbut, William H. and Edmund
L. Kelley, Chester C. Thorne, and Arthur B. Deming, as well as excerpts
from Palmyra newspapers and interviews and statements of local residents
Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and John H. Gilbert. This volume contains
an assortment of documents arranged under the following headings: “Mis¬
cellaneous Early Sources’’ (pre-1844); “Miscellaneous Late Sources” (post-
1844); “Miscellaneous Non-resident Sources”; and “Miscellaneous Docu¬
ments.”

This collection groups together early sources that are not well known,
even to Mormon historians. An excerpt from Eli Bruce’s diary, dated 5
November 1830, documents his interview with Joseph Smith, Sr., while
both were incarcerated in Canandaigua’s jail (see III.I.l, ELI BRUCE
DIARY, 5 NOV 1830). Although published in 1861, this important diary
entry has frequently been overlooked. The same is true of the 12 March 1831
letter from ten unnamed residents of Palmyra to Ohio publisher E. D. Howe,
which includes a description of Joseph Smith’s treasure seeking and mentions
“Walters the Magician” (see IILL3, PALMYRA RESIDENTS TO
PAINESVILLE (OH) TELEGRAPH, 12 MAR 1831). Published for the
first time in its entirety is a letter from six leading citizens of Canandaigua,
dated January 1832, which contains information about Martin Harris and
Joseph Smith that is found in no other source (see III. 1.4, NATHANIEL W.
HOWELL AND OTHERS TO ANCIL BEACH, JAN 1832).

The late sources include the accounts of well-known non-Mormons
Orsamus Turner and Pomeroy Tucker (see IILJ.2, ORSAMUS TURNER
ACCOUNT, 1851; and IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT,
1867), as well as the lesser known statement of Daniel Hendrix (see IILJ.26,
DANIEL HENDRIX ILEMINISCENCE, 1893). Hendrix’s document,
although known to historians, is preceded by new information about
Hendrix. While some of these documents have been previously pubHshed,
many have resisted notice. Among the more important of these are: Robert
Richards [pseud.]. The Californian Crusoe (see IILJ.3, DR. WILLIAMS
ACCOUNT, 1854); Pomeroy Tucker, “Mormonism and Joe Smith” (see
IILJ.5, POMEROY TUCKER EkEMINISCENCE, 1858); Jared S. Na-

INTRODUCTION

smith, “Joseph Smith and Mormonism Which Started 100 Years Ago. Some
Incidents Related About Smith By Professor Philetus B. Spear, D.D., a Man
Born in Palmyra in 1811” (see III.J.9, PHILETUS B. SPEAR ACCOUNT,
CIRCA 1873); and William Hyde Interview, in “Birth of Mormonism” (see

IILJ. 23, WILLIAM HYDE INTERVIEWS, 1888). Previously unpublished
documents composed after 1844 are the letters from E. E. Baldwin to W.
O. Norrell, dated 3 August 1887, and from Philana A. Foster to E. W. Taylor,
dated 16 July 1895 (see IILJ.21, E. E. BALDWIN TO W. O. NORRELL,
3 AUG 1887; and IILJ.27, PHILANA A. FOSTER TO E. W. TAYLOR,
16 JUL 1895); the statements of Carlos Osgood and Wallace Miner in M.
Wilford Poulson’s “Notebook containing statements made by residents of
Palmyra, N.Y., Manchester, N.Y., and other areas ...” (see IILJ.38. CAR¬
LOS OSGOOD STATEMENT, 1932; and IILJ.37, WALLACE MINER
REMINISCENCE, 1932); and the document entitled “Concerning Joseph
Smith” (see IILJ.41, PALMYRA RESIDENT REMINISCENCE, NO
DATE).

This third volume also includes testimony from non-residents, meaning
those who either lived in New York outside Wayne and Ontario counties
or were visitors from other states. The earliest accounts here are usually
excerpted from newspapers: Rochester Gem, Geauga (OH) Gazette, Wayne
County (PA) Inquirer, Illinois Patriot, Broome County (NY) Courier, and Lockport
(NY) Balance (see III.K.l; IILK.2; IILK.3; IILK.4; IILK.7; IILK.8; IILK.9).
Accounts of Mormon converts, such as Parley P. Pratt and Thomas B. Marsh
(see IILK.16, PARLEY P. PRATT AUTOBIOGRAPHY, CIRCA 1854;

IILK. 21, PARLEY P. PRATT REMINISCENCE, 1856; IILK.22,
THOMAS B. MARSH AUTOBIOGRAPHY, 1857), have received some
attention previously, while those of non-Mormons have been largely ig¬
nored. Among the most interesting in this latter group are David S. Burnett’s

1831 account (III. K.5); James Gordon Bennett’s 1831 account (III. K.6); John
Barber and Henry Howe’s 1841 account (IILK.14); Thurlow Weed’s remi¬
niscences of 1854, 1858, 1880, and 1884 (III. K. 17); and Thomas Davies
BurraU’s 1867 reminiscence (IILK.27). Even some well-known Mormon
sources have received little scholarly attention, perhaps because they deal
with Joseph Smith’s treasure seeking. See, for example, James Colin Brew¬
ster’s 1843 account (III. K. 15); Brigham Young’s 1855, 1857, and 1877
accounts (III. K. 19 and III. K. 30); and Elizabeth Kane’s 1872-73 interview
with Brigham Young, Artemisia (Beaman) Snow, and Orrin Rockwell
(IILK.37). Documents published here for the first time in their entirety
include: William E. McLeUin’s letter to Samuel McLellin, dated 4 August

1832 (III. K. 10); Emer Harris’s 1856 account (IILK.20); Henry O’Reilly’s

INTRODUCTION

1879 reminiscence (III. K. 31); and Sara Melissa Ingersoll’s 1899 reminiscence
(III.K.34).

The concluding section contains civil records (for example, road lists,
a highway survey, census records, land deeds, tax rolls, merchant documents,
and court records) dealing only incidentally with Smith family history, as
well as records directly treating the topic of Mormon origins (such as the
copyright to the Book of Mormon, the testimony of the Eight Witnesses,
the preface to the Book of Mormon, the 1831 agreement between Joseph
Smith, Sr., and Martin Harris, and the Missionaries Covenant).

Sources

ELI BRUCE DIARY, 5 NOVEMBER 1830

Robert Morris, The Masonic Martyr: The Biography of Eli Bruce, Sheriff of
Niagara County, New York (Louisville, Kentucky: Morris and Monsarrat,
1861), 266-67.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Eli Bruce (1793-1852) was born at Templeton, Massachusetts. Prior to
his removal to western New York, Bruce taught at the Academy in
Lancaster, Massachusetts. In November 1825 he was elected High
Sheriflf of Niagara County, New York. Following the disappearance of
WiUiam Morgan, a disaffected Mason suspected of being murdered by
members of the fraternity in 1826, Bruce, a Mason since 1824 or
1825, was tried and found guilty of conspiracy in Morgan’s abduction,
then confined in the Canandaigua jail for twenty-eight months (from
23 May 1829 to 23 September 1831). While incarcerated, Bruce
studied medicine and soon after his release went into practice (Morris
1883, 203-248).

While in jail, Bruce learned about Mormonism from Joseph Smith, Sr.,
who had been incarcerated for thirty days in the Canandaigua jail because of
an unpaid debt of four dollars. On 5 November 1830 Bruce made the
following entry in his journal about his conversation with the senior Smith.
Also, from prison, Bruce wrote a letter, dated 21 March 1831, to his brother.
Dr. Silas Bruce of Boston, Massachusetts, in which he made reference to the
Mormons: “There is a stir here in the religious world. I allude to a set of
persons styled Mormons, who claim to be the peculiar favorites of Heaven
by immediate revelation” (Morris 1883, 244). Bruce evidently was not
convinced by Smith’s recital.

Lucy Smith may have alluded to Bruce when she reported that her son
Samuel had found his father “confined in the same dungeon with a man
committed for murder” (LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845,
1853:164). Since it was commonly assumed Morgan had been murdered by
Masonic conspirators, Lucy may have been led to describe Bruce as a
murderer. Also, since convicted murderers were usually sent to the state
prison in Auburn, the suggestion that Lucy refers to Bruce seems even more
probable.

MISCELLANEOUS EARLY SOURCES

According to Lucy Smith, Joseph Sr. was arrested on a Thursday, the
day following Hyrum’s move to Colesville, which may have occurred on
either Wednesday, 29 September 1830, or Wednesday, 6 October 1830
(Porter 1971, 109). Since Joseph Sr. spent thirty days in the Canandaigua
jail, according to Lucy Smith, and was still there on 5 November 1830 when
Bruce made the present entry in his diary, it follows that he was arrested on
7 October 1830. However, this reconstruction is not without its difficulties,
for Lucy also says her husband did not rejoin his family at Fayette until
mid-December (I.B.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MSiFrag. 10
[back]; 1853:170), leaving Joseph Sr.’s whereabouts for about a month
unaccounted for. Perhaps Joseph Sr.’s jail term was sixty-days, or, more
likely, he was incarcerated at a later date than Lucy remembered, possibly
the same day of Bruce’s entry or shortly before.

In 1855 or 1856 Robert Morris met the widow of Eli Bruce and
other family members in Centralia, Illinois, who soon after loaned him
Bruce’s three volumes of manuscript diaries which covered the period of
Bruce’s incarceration in the Canandaigua jail. According to Morris, these
now lost diaries spanned from 30 May 1829 to 7 January 1831 (Morris
1883, 203-4). In 1861 Morris published a biography of Bruce which
included the text of his journals. The following transcription has been
taken from that publication.

November 5th — Not so much pain in my head as yesterday. Had a long talk
with the father of the Smith, (Joseph Smith,) who, according to the old man’s
account, is the particular favorite of Heaven! [p. 266] To him Heaven has
vouchsafed to reveal its mysteries; he is the herald of the latter-day glory.
The old man avers that he is commissioned by God to baptize and preach
this new doctrine. He says that our Bible is much abridged and deficient;
that soon the Divine wiU is to be made known to aU, as written in the new
Bible, or Book of Mormon.

WILLIAM w. Phelps to e. d. Howe,
15 JANUARY 1831

William W. Phelps to E. D. Howe, 15 January 1831, E. D. Howe, Mormonism
Unvailed: or, A Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion, from
Its Rise to the Present Time (PainesviUe, Ohio: E. D. Howe, 1834), 273-74.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Eber D. Howe,^ publisher of the PainesviUe (Ohio) Telegraph, wrote to
William W. Phelps^ in Canandaigua, New York, on 11 January 1831,
requesting information about Mormonism, which had recently gained nu¬
merous converts in nearby Mentor, Ohio. Howe, an anti-Mason, probably
sought Phelps out because he was familiar with Phelps’s Ontario Phoenix, an
anti-Masonic paper he began editing in 1828. But Howe was probably
unaware that Phelps had already started investigating Mormonism and was a
serious candidate for membership (subsequently being baptized on 16 June
1831). Phelps had received a copy of the Book of Mormon on 9 April 1830,
and had met Joseph Smith on 24 December 1830 (see Deseret News, 11 April
1860). Howe was undoubtedly surprised by Phelps’s response, since in
Howe’s mind anti-Masons would naturally reject a book published on a
pro-Jackson press (see Vogel 1989). Howe’s disappointment is apparent in
the short biography of Phelps he appended to the letter:

Before the rise of Mormonism, he [Phelps] was an avowed infidel; having a
remarkable propensity for fame and eminence, he was supercilious, haughty
and egotistical. His great ambition was to embark in some speculation where
he could shine pre-eminent. He took an active part for several years in the po¬
litical contests of New York, and made no little display as an editor of a parti-
zan newspaper, and after being foiled in his desires to become a candidate for
Lt. Governor of that state, his attention was suddenly diverted by the pros¬
pects which were held out to him in the Gold Bible speculation. ... It will be
[proved] by the foregoing letter, that he had already made up his mind to em-

1. On E. D. Howe (1798-?), see “Introduction to Philastus Hurlbut
Collection.”

2. On William W. Phelps (1792-1872), see introduction to III.G.6,
OLIVER COWDERY TO W. W. PHELPS, 7 SEP 1834.

MISCELLANEOUS EARLY SOURCES

brace Mormonism, but still wished to conceal his intentions. It was not till
about six months after that he had made definite arrangements to join them
(Howe 1834, 274-75).

Howe also states that he is publishing Phelps’s letter in order to “show
what was taught him [Phelps] while a pupil under [Joseph] Smith and
[Sidney] Rigdon, and that the story about Mr. [Charles] Anthon’s declara¬
tions, was one upon which they placed great reliance” (Howe 1834, 273).
Phelps’s letter contains important insight into early Mormonism from the
point of view of an investigator.

Canandaigua, Jan. 15, 1831.

Dear Sir — ours of the 1 1th, is before me, but to give you a satisfactory
answer, is out of my power. To be sure, I am acquainted with a number of
the persons concerned in the publication, called the ''Book of Mormon.’' —
Joseph Smith is a person of very limited abilities in common learning — but
his knowledge of divine things, since the appearance of his book, has
astonished many. Mr. Harris,^ whose name is in the book, is a wealthy farmer,
but of small literary acquirements; he is honest, and sincerely declares upon
his soul’s salvation that the book is true, and was interpreted by Joseph Smith,
through a pair of silver spectacles, found with the plates. The places where
they dug for the plates, in Manchester, are to be seen."^ When the plates were
said to have been found, a copy of one or two lines of the characters,^ were
taken by Mr. Harris to Utica, Albany and New York; at New York, they
were shown to Dr. Mitchell,^ and he referred to professor Anthon ^ who

3. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

4. Phelps’s use of the plural “they” and “places” may refer to the dig¬
ging of Joseph Smith and company at several locations, including Miner’s Hill
and the excavation on the east side of the Hill Cumorah mentioned by
Lorenzo Saunders and others (see IILJ.20, LORJENZO SAUNDERS TO
THOMAS GILEGG, 28 JAN 1885; IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867, 34; and IILK.32, EDWARD STEVENSON REMINIS¬
CENCE, 1893, 12-13).

5. See V.E.2, BOOK OF MORMON CHARACTERS, DEC 1827-
FEB 1828.

6. On Samuel L. Mitchell (1764-1831), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 45.

7. On Charles Anthon (1797-1867), see introduction to V.D.2,
CHARLES ANTHON TO E.D. HOWE, 17 FEB 1834.

WILLIAM W. PHELPS TO E. D. HOWE, 1831

translated and declared them to be the ancient shorthand Egyptian.^ So much
is true. The family of Smiths is poor, and generally ignorant in common
learning.

I have read the book, and many others have, but we have nothing by
which we can positively detect it as an imposi[p. 273]tion, nor have we any
thing more than what I have stated and the book itself, to show its
genuineness. We doubt — supposing, if it is false, it will fall, and if of God,
God will sustain it.

I had ten hours discourse with a man from your state, named Sidney
Rigdon,^ a convert to its doctrines, and he declared it was true, and he knew
it by the power of the Holy Ghost, which was again given to man in
preparation for the millennium: he appeared to be a man of talents, and
sincere in his profession. Should any new light be shed on the subject, I will
apprise you.

Respectfully,
W. W. PHELPS.

E. D. HOWE, ESQ.

8. Regarding Harris’s visit to Anthon, see discussion in “Introduction
to Martin Harris Collection.”

9. Phelps probably spoke with Rigdon at the same time he met Joseph
Smith on 24 December 1830 (IILL9, W. W. PHELPS TO OLIVER COW-
DERY, 21 FEB 1835; see also VLF.5, SIDNEY RIGDON REMINIS¬
CENCE, 1844, 522). On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to
LA.13, SIDNEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

PALMYRA RESIDENTS TO
P^/iVE5F/LL£ (OH) TELEGRAPH,
12 MARCH 1831

Unidentified Palmyra Residents to Editor, 12 March 1831, Painesville (Ohio)
Telegraph 2 (22 March 1831): 2.

EDITORIAL NOTE

On 22 March 1831, E. D. Howe published a letter, dated 12 March
1831, from unidentified persons in Palmyra, New York. Concerning this
letter, Howe reports: “We have received the following letter from Palmyra,
N.Y. on the subject of Bible imposture. It is signed by ten individuals of the
first respectibility.” The letter was probably written by Abner Cole, and
signed by nine others, since it mentions Luman Walters and reaffirms that
“the facts pubHshed in the ‘Reflector,’ are true as far as has come to our
knowledge.” Cole had made reference to the Painesville Telegraph in early
February (see Palmyra Reflector, 1 February 1831, 93), and Howe had
previously published extracts from Cole’s paper (e.g., Painesville Telegraph, 8
March 1831). The letter may have been prompted by a letter from Howe
requesting verification of some statements he saw printed in the Reflector.

Palmyra, March 12, 1831.

The “gold bible” question excites but little interest in this section of
country, its followers being few and generally of the dregs of community,
and the most unlettered people that can be found any where, and besides
there is much reason to doubt the sincerity of many of them.

The first idea of a “Book,” was doubtless suggested to the Smiths by
one Walters,^ a juggling fortune-teller, who made the ignorant believe that
an old book in his possession, in the Latin language, contained an account
of the ante-deluvians, &c. and the word was given out that the book Smith
was about to find, was a history of hidden treasures.^

1. On Luman Walters (c. 1788-1860), see III.E.3, PALMYRA RE¬
FLECTOR, 1829-1831, n. 21.

2. See III.E.3, PALMYRA REFLECTOR, 1829-1831, under 12 June
1830 and 28 February 1831.

PALMYRA RESIDENTS TO PAINESVILLE (OH) TELEGRAPH, 1831

Smith and his father belonged to a gang of money-diggers, who had
followed that business for many years, Jo pretending he could see the gold
and silver by the aid of what they called a ‘'peep stoneT

The book is chiefly garbled from the Old and New Testaments, the
Apocraphy having contributed its share: names and phrases have been altered,
and in many instances copied upwards — A quarto Bible now in this village,
was borrowed and nearly worn out and defaced by their dirty handling.^
Some seven or eight of them spent many months in copying, Cowdery^
being principal scribe. Some of these people will probably go to your state,
but few of them are able to live without assistance. Their numbers may be
20 in this vicinity, and but two or three of them own any property to our
knowledge. Near Waterloo there is said to be about 40, three or four being
men of propty. Chamberlain and Burrows, two of the principal ones, it is
said have refused to sell, or obey Jo any longer.^ The truth of it is, Jo overdid
his business at the commencement and bore on too hard.

The whole gang of these deluded mortals, except a few hypocrites, are
profound believers in witchcraft, ghosts, goblins. See. From the best infor¬
mation we can obtain, the work has entirely stopped in this country, and
some who have been the most ardent are beginning to have misgivings on
the subject. Martin Harris,^ the head man here as it respects property, left
here a few days ago on a sojourn to your country, having received a special
command thither forthwith.^ Cowdrey has been heard of far up the Missouri,
pretending to have great success in his mission^; but as ignorant as too many

3. See III.E.3, PALMYRA REFLECTOR, 1829-1831, under 28 Feb¬
ruary 1831.

4. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

5. On Orrin Chamberlain and Philip Burroughs, see III.E.3,
PALMYRA REFLECTOR, 1829-1831, under 9 March 1831, n. 53.

6. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

7. On 22 February 1831 Joseph Smith wrote to Harris requesting him
to “bring or cause to <be> brought all the books [of Mormon]” (LDS
Church archives. Salt Lake City, Utah). Harris arrived at Painesville, Ohio,
on 12 March 1831 {Painesville Telegraph, 15 March 1831, 3), but returned to
Palmyra to sell his farm to Thomas Lakey on 1 April 1831 (see IILL.14,
MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829). Later, during the third
week of May, Harris again left Palmyra, leading a small group of Mormons to
Ohio (see III.E.l, WAYNE SENTINEL, 1824-1836, under 27 May 1831).

8. See IILE.3, PALMYRA REFLECTOR, 1829-1831, under 9 March

1831.

MISCELLANEOUS EARLY SOURCES

of the people are, it is hardly possible that so clumsy an imposition can spread
to any considerable extent. We have only to add that the facts published in
the “Reflector,” are true as far as has come to our knowledge.

Yours, See.
[names withheld]

NATHANIEL W. HOWELL AND OTHERS
TO Ancil Beach,

JANUARY 1832

Nathaniel W. Howell, Walter Hubbell, Ansel D. Eddy, Henry Chapin, Jared
Willson, and Lewis Jenkins to Ancil Beach, January 1832, Walter Hubbell
Collection, 1831-1833 Correspondence, Princeton University Library,
Princeton, New Jersey.

EDITORIAL NOTE

The present letter, dated January 1832, was written by six leading
citizens of Canandaigua, New York, and contains an account of early
Mormonism. The letter was apparently written in response to a letter of
inquiry sent to the post master of Canandaigua, Lewis Jenkins, by the
Reverend Ancil Beach, at the time a Methodist minister serving in eastern
Indiana’s New Castle circuit. According to Methodist historian Allen Wiley,
Beach “was a man of some year’s standing as a member of the church, but
young in the ministry, who had just been received on trial. He was zealous,
and so remains to this day [5 August 1846]; for he is yet in the work, being
a member of the North Indiana conference. He is a man of only medium
preaching talents, but his diligence and zeal have made him successful beyond
many others. His travels in Indiana have been extensive” (Wiley 1927, 406,
411-12). In 1830 Beach replaced Amos Sparks in the Connersville circuit.
Beach (in his thirties), together with his wife and two sons, is listed in the
1830 Manchester, Dearborn County, Indiana, census. The following year
the Connersville circuit was divided, and Beach was assigned to the newly
formed New Castle circuit (Wiley 1927, 419, 424). While making his new
circuit. Beach may have become aware of the branch of Mormons in
Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana, which had been established during
June-September 1831 by Levi Hancock and Zebedee Coltrin. From 29
November to 7 December 1831, several conferences were held in Winches¬
ter at which Oliver Cowdery presided (Cannon and Cook 1983, 33-38, 34,
n. 1). Beach’s letter of inquiry therefore may have resulted from his concern
over the movement of the Mormons into his area and their increased activity.

Besides postmaster Lewis Jenkins, the men who responded to Beach’s
inquiry were the piUars of the community. Walter Hubbell (1795-1848),

Joseph Smith, Sr., Home, Manchester, New York. No date. Used by permission,
Utah State Historical Society, all rights reserved.

NATHANIEL W. HOWELL AND OTHERS TO ANCIL BEACH, 1832

who settled in Canandaigua in 1814, was a prominent lawyer and member
of the Ontario County bar. He was elected to the state assembly in 1829.
Under Ansel D. Eddy’s pastorship, Hubbell served as a deacon in the
Congregational Church from 1824 until his death in 1848 (McIntosh 1876,
32, 38, 39, 41, 52, 58, 112; Wayne Sentinel^ 29 February 1828).

Jared Willson (1786-1851) settled in Canandaigua in 1813, where he
became a noted lawyer and very active in the economic and political concerns
of the community. At the writing of the Beach letter, he was apparently
acting as court surrogate in Canandaigua (McIntosh 1876, 37, 38, 39, 52, 58,
108; see also Wayne Sentinel, 25 July 1828). Willson apparently served under
Henry Chapin, commissioner of the judiciary, who also signed the letter to
Beach. Chapin may have also been the Henry Chapin who was a trustee of
a school district in 1839 mentioned in the History of Ontario County (McIntosh
1876, 110).

Probably the most distinguished name on the document is that of
Nathaniel W. Howell (1770-1850). Beginning his law practice in Canan¬
daigua in 1795, Howell became a distinguished public servant, serving as
assistant attorney-general in 1797, as a representative in the Thirteenth
Congress from 1813 to 1815, and as first judge of Ontario County from 1819
to 1833. In 1830 Howell helped found the successful Ontario Savings Bank,
which included among its incorporators Jared Willson and Walter Hubbell.
Howell’s other business deaUngs included the establishment in 1824 of the
Western Fire Insurance Company, of which he was president. His estate
included in 1814 one “negro man-slave,” whose ownership was certified by
Walter Hubbell (McIntosh 1876, 37, 38, 52, 53-54, 58; G. Conover 1888,
464-65).

Also well-known is Ansel D. Eddy, who became the pastor of the
Congregational Church at Canandaigua in 1824 and served until 1835.
During Eddy’s pastorate, “several very extensive revivals of religion were
enjoyed, as the result of which large accessions were made to the church,
and the standard of morals in the community considerably elevated”
(Hotchkin 1848, 399-400; see also McIntosh 1876, 112). In 1826 Eddy
published a pamphlet, titled A Discourse Delivered in Canandaigua by Rev. A.
D. Eddy, New York, July 4, 1826 (Canandaigua: Bemis, Morse & Ward,
1826), in which he argued that national prosperity was dependent upon
“keeping our religious principles pure” (p. 20). In 1832 Eddy was praised by
Edward D. Griffin, president of Williams College, for not indulging in
extreme revivalistic practices (Griffin 1832). In 1848 James H. Hotchkin
reported that Eddy was then living in Newark, New Jersey (Hotchkin 1848,
400).

MISCELLANEOUS EARLY SOURCES

Beach evidently requested information regarding Joseph Smith and the
individuals whose names were appended to the Book of Mormon as special
witnesses to the divinity of its origin. As members of the legal profession, the
Canandaigua correspondents were careful to state the limitations of their
personal observations. They admitted, for example, that of the eleven
witnesses, they had personal knowledge only of Martin Harris, the Book of
Mormon’s financier. Indeed, previous to publication of the Book of Mor¬
mon, Harris was the most publicly visible of the Mormon witnesses. The
eccentric Harris owned a sizable farm and was well-known for his participa¬
tion in community activities, occasionally taking a leading role (see R. W.
Walker 1986; R. L. Anderson 1981, 95-105). As early as 1823, Jared Willson,
acting as surrogate of Ontario County, officiated over the sale of land held
jointly by Martin Harris and Reuben Hewitt {Wayne Sentinel, 1 October
1823). Given the professions and social interests of the letter’s signers, it is
entirely possible that some of them were either professionally acquainted
with Harris or had otherwise heard of his social activities.

The letter was discovered by Wesley P. Walters in November 1986
while searching through the Walter Hubbell Collection at Princeton Uni¬
versity at my urging. It is not the original letter sent to Ancil Beach, but a
copy Hubbell kept for his files. Comparison of the handwriting with other
letters in the collection indicates that the Beach letter was copied by someone
other than Hubbell (or Howell). According to librarians, the Hubbell
collection was donated by a family member in 1957. On the outside of the
letter when folded, Hubbell wrote the following: “copy of a letter / to /
Rev[eren]d Ancil Beach / Jan[uar]y — 1832.”

Sr.

Your communication addressed to the post master in this place request¬
ing information in relation to the Character of the individuals who have
published the Book of Mormon and who call themselves Mormonites was
duly received[.] And as it may serve the cause of truth and guard against
imposition we cheerfully afford you the information in our possession. The
town of Manchester in this county is the next town north East of this and
the individuals whose names are published as the actors in getting up the
Book of Mormon were not heard of <by us>, except the name of Martin
Harris" before this farce was brought to light. The neighbours of Smith and
the others give the following account of them — Joseph Smith has <lived>

1. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

NATHANIEL W. HOWELL AND OTHERS TO ANCIL BEACH, 1832

in and about Man=chester for several years an idle worthless fellow; previous
to the Mormon project he had been engaged for some time in company with
several others of the same Character Employed in digging for money [.]^ They
were poor as well as worthless and for a time were supported by a man Mr
Fish^ an illiterate man of some property who was duped by them, and when
[p. 1] he found that his money diggers were like to consume what he had
gathered by his industry he turned them ofR— Joseph Smith then pretended
to have found a box, in digging in the woods, containing some gold plates
with Characters upon them which none but himself could decypher"^ — Cow-
dry^ who certifies to the Book of Mormon was a school master in the town
of Manchester and went away with Smith to the State of Pennsylvania and
was employed by Smith to write <down> for him what he interpreted from
the mystic characters upon the plates — They then induced Martin Harris a

2. For recent discussions of the Smiths’ treasure-seeking activities, see
Quinn 1987; R. L. Anderson 1984; R. W. Walker 1984; and Taylor 1986.

3. The Canandaigua correspondents neglect to give the first name of
Mr. Fish, but they probably refer to Abraham Fish (c. 1773-1845) of Man¬
chester, New York, a business acquaintance of both Joseph Smith, Sr., and
Joseph Smith, Jr. On 19 January 1830, Lemuel Durfee, Jr., sued Joseph Sr.
and Abraham Fish for “damages” amounting to $39.92, which they paid plus
interest on 13 September 1830 (see IILL.19, NATHAN PIERCE DOCKET
BOOK, 1830). Under the date 10 March 1827, six months prior to Smith’s
reception of the plates, Joseph Smith’s financial records include the following
note: “rec[ieve]d Joseph Smith, Jr. four dollars which is accredited to the ac¬
count of A. Fish” (see III.L.ll, JOSEPH SMITH RECEIPT TO ABRA¬
HAM FISH ACCOUNT, 10 MAR 1827). Pomeroy Tucker included the
names of David and Abram Fish in his list of “pioneer Mormon disciples”
who first “made a profession of belief either in the money-digging or golden
bible finding” (IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 39), but
apparently only Abraham had financial ties with the Smiths. Injustice Nathan
Pierce’s docket book. Fish wrote an “X” near the words “Abraham Fish his
mark,” supporting the letter’s characterization that “Mr Fish” was “an illiter¬
ate man.” The Wayne Sentinel for 23 July 1845 reports that Fish had recently
been hit in the head by a hired hand and soon after died at age seventy-two.
See also IILL.5, GAIN C. AND GAINS C. ROBINSON ACCOUNT
BOOKS, 1820-1830, #9.

4. Regarding the claim that only Smith could interpret the characters
on the plates, see discussion in “Introduction to Martin Harris Collection.”

See also V.E.2, BOOK OF MORMON CHAILACTERS, DEC 1827-FEB
1828.

5. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

MISCELLANEOUS EARLY SOURCES

farmer of respectable property to become responsible for an edition of 5000
copies of the Book which was accor=dingly published in Palmyra in the
County of Wayne about fourteen miles from this place — Harris became very
boisterous on the subject of the book and preached about the country in
endeavoring to make sale of it — Harris is by some considered a deluded man
partially insane,^ and by others as a cunning speculator in publishing this book
for the sake of gain^ —

The Book and the whole movement connected with the character of
those engaged in it has been considered too ridiculous to attract any serious
attention, and [p. 2] in this part of the country they have been joined by very
few and those who did fall in with them were such as were glad to be
provided with bread to eat by whatever means obtained Sc perhaps a few
honest and ignorant men who were deluded by the falsehoods published by
the authors of the plan — ^We are informed that <the> Mormonites as they
are called generally removed to the State of Ohio from which we learn they
have removed still farther west — ^Martin Harris lately testified on a trial^
which related to the work of printing and publishing the Book that he had
sent 2300 copies of it to the west — In this State the movers in this project
can do no harm and we should hope that their imposition, so gross, would
not succeed in any part of our land —

signed by N. W. Howell[,] First Judge See

W. Hubbell[,] Master in Ch[anceller]y
A, D. Eddy[,] Pastor See

Henry Chapin[,] Comm[issione]r of Jud[iciar]y.
Jared Willson[,] Surrogate
Lewis Jenkins [,] Post Master

Rev[eren]d Ancil Beach

6. A judgement probably resulting from Harris’s eccentric character
and propensity for visionary experiences (see discussion in “Introduction to
Martin Harris Collection”).

7. On the claim that Harris was motivated by monetary gain, see
IILA.7, LUCY HARRIS STATEMENT, 29 NOV 1833; and IILA.6,
ABIGAIL HARRIS STATEMENT, 28 NOV 1833.

8. This possibly relates to Joseph Smith’s request for Harris to send
copies of the Book of Mormon to Kirtland, Ohio. In a letter dated 22 Febru¬
ary 1831, Smith wrote Harris to “bring or cause to <be> brought all the
books [of Mormon], as the work is here breaking forth on the east[,] west[,]
north and south” (Joseph Smith to Martin Harris, 22 February 1831, LDS
Church archives. Salt Lake City, Utah).

WILLIAM w. Phelps Account, 1833

[William W. Phelps], “Rise and Progress of the Church of Christ,” The
Evening and The Morning Star 1 (April 1833): [84].

EDITORIAL NOTE

On 6 April 1833, Bishop Edward Partridge and about eighty officials
and other members met at a special conference of the church in Jackson
County, Missouri. Joseph Smith’s History states that it was “three years since
the Church had come out of the wilderness, preparatory for the last
dispensation. ... This was the first attempt made by the Church to celebrate
the anniversary of her birthday, and those who professed not our faith talked
about it as a strange thing” (J. Smith 1948, 1:337). It is in this spirit that the
following editorial, believed to have been written by editor W. W. Phelps
(and possibly aided by Oliver Cowdery, who did not leave Missouri until
July 1833), outlined the organization and progress of the Church of Christ.

Having promised in our last number,^ something on the rise and
progress of the church of Christ, we commence with the intention of giving
a relation of a few facts, as they have occurred since the church was organized
in eighteen hundred and thirty. We shall be brief in this article, as we design
to give from time to time the progress of this church, for the benefit of
inquirers as well as the satisfaction of those who believe.

Soon after the book of Mormon came forth, containing the fulness of
the gospel of Jesus Christ, the church was organized on the sixth of April, in
Manchester^; soon after, a branch was established in Fayette,^ and the June

1. In an article in the previous issue, “Prospects of the Church,” it was
stated: “As it is our intention, in a future number to give the particulars of
the rise and progress of the church, we omit some things of interest. ...” {The
Evening and The Morning Star 1 [March 1833]: [76]).

2. In the previous issue of the Star, it was also stated: “It will be three
years the sixth of April next, since the church of Christ was organized, in
Manchester, New York, with six members” {The Evening and The Morning
Star 1 [March 1833]: [76]). On the location of the church’s organization, see
discussion in LA. 15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, n. 82.

3. Baptismal meetings were held in Fayette, New York, on 11 and 18
April 1830 (I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 39), as well as the

MISCELLANEOUS EARLY SOURCES

following, another in Colesville, New York/

We shall not give, at this time, the particulars attending the organization
of these branches of the church; neither shall we publish in this, the account
of the persecution of those who were then called and authorized to preach
the everlasting gospel. Twenty more were added to the church in Manchester
and Fayette, in the month of April^; and on the 28th of June, thirteen were
baptized in Colesville^: and of these we can say as Paul said of the five hundred
who saw the Savior after he had risen from the dead: The greater part remain
unto this present, but some are fallen asleep [1 Cor. 15:6]. In October, (1830)
the number of disciples had increased to between seventy and eighty,^ when
four of the elders started for the west, and founded a branch of the church
at Kirtland, Ohio, around which many have since arisen.

first church conference on 9 June 1830 (VLG.2, FAR WEST BTICORD, 9
JUN 1830, 26 SEP 1830 & 2 JAN 1831).

4. A baptismal meeting was held at the Joseph Knight residence in
Colesville, New York, on 28 June 1830 (LA. 15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, 43).

5. “Twenty more’’ apparently indicates twenty baptisms besides those
performed prior to the organization of the church. At least two were baptized
on 6 April 1830: Martin Harris and Joseph Smith, Sr.; with the baptisms of
Lucy Smith and Sarah Witt Rockwell apparently following a day or two later
(LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 38, DRAFT:9-10). Six, possi¬
bly seven, were baptized in Fayette on 11 April 1830: Hiram Page, Catherine
Whitmer Page, Mary Page, Christian Whitmer, Anne (Schott) Whitmer, Ja¬
cob Whitmer, and Elizabeth (Schott) Whitmer (compare LA.15, JOSEPH
SMITH HISTORY, 1839, DRAFT:11; and ibid., 1839, 39 [minus Mary
Page]). Seven more were baptized in Fayette on 18 April 1830: Peter Whit¬
mer, Sr., Mary (Musselman) Whitmer, William Jolly, Elizabeth Jolly, Vincent
JoUy, Richard B. Peterson (or Ziba Peterson), and Elizabeth Ann Whitmer
(ibid., 39). Solomon Chamberlain and wife Hope (Haskins) Chamberlain
may have also been baptized about this time (see Porter 1971, 260).

6. Smith’s History names thirteen persons baptized at ColesviUe, New
York, on 28 June 1830: Emma Smith, Hezekiah Peck, Martha (Long) Peck,
Joseph Knight, Sr., Polly (Peck) Knight, William Stringham, Esther (Knight)
Stringham, Joseph Knight, Jr., Aaron Culver, Esther (Peck) Culver, Levi
Hall, PoUy Knight, and Julia Stringham (LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, 43). Sally (Colburn) Knight was probably baptized at the same
time, although one source has 29 June 1830 (see IV.E.3, SALLY KNIGHT
OBITUARY, 1834; see also Porter 1971, 201-202).

7. Church records indicate that on 26 September 1830, at the second
church conference, there were sixty-two members (see VLG.2, FAR WEST
RECOILD, 9 JUN 1830, 26 SEP 1830 & 2 JAN 1831).

WILLIAM W. PHELPS ACCOUNT, 1833

These first four, having added one to their number, proceeded to the
west, after having baptized one hundred and thirty disciples in less than four
weeks and ordained four of them elders, and finally stopped in the western
bounds of the state of Missouri, having been preserved by the hand of the
Lord, and directed by his Spirit.

In the winter, (1831) the church in the state of New York, after a
commandment had been received from the Lord [D&C 38], began to prepare
to remove to the state of Ohio. The following is a part of the revelation
referred to above: And that ye might escape the power of the enemy, and
be gathered unto me a righteous people without spot and blameless:
wherefore for this cause I gave unto you the commandment that ye should
go to the Ohio; and there I will give unto you my law, and there you shall
be endowed with power from on high, and from thence, whomsoever I will
shall go forth unto all nations, and it shall be told them what they shall do,
for I have a great work laid up in store: for Israel shall be saved, and I will
lead them withersoever I will, and no power shall stay my hand [D&C
38:31-33].

In the spring the greater part of the disciples who were in New York,
removed to the Ohio. ...

JESSE TOWNSEND TO PHINEAS STILES,
24 December 1833

Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, Pomeroy Tucker,
Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism (New York: D. Appleton and Co.,
1867), 288-91.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Jesse Townsend (1766-1838), a graduate of Yale University, was
ordained in 1792. He was installed as pastor of Palmyra’s Western Presbyte¬
rian Church on 29 August 1817. After serving three years, he moved to
Illinois and later to Missouri. Returning to Palmyra in 1826, he served as
pastor in neighboring Sodus from 1827 to 1831. After several years of illness,
Townsend died at Palmyra (McIntosh 1877, 147; T. Cook 1930, 261;
Walters 1969a, 67-68; Backman 1980, 69).

Townsend’s letter, dated 24 December 1833 (but not published until
1867), is contemporaneous with his signing of Philastus Hurlbut’s group
statement of Palmyra residents earlier the same month (see III.A.ll,
PALMYRA RESIDENTS GROUP STATEMENT, 4 DEC 1833). The
letters of those writing to the Palmyra postmaster asking about the Mormons
may have sometimes been forwarded to Townsend for response. This letter,
and a similarly worded letter written less than a year later to Elisha Camp of
Sackets’ Harbor, New York, suggest that Townsend may have sent out a
sort of “form letter” to various persons asking about Mormon origins in the
Palmyra/Manchester area (see III. 1. 7, JESSE TOWNSEND TO ELISHA
CAMP, 16 AUG 1834). Regarding the origin of Townsend’s 1833 letter to
Phineas Stiles, Pomeroy Tucker informs:

For the following sketch of the origin of the Mormon imposture, and of its
leader “Joe Smith” and his early associates and dupes, the author of this work
is indebted to the kindness of Mrs. PERRINE, daughter of the writer, the
late Rev. JESSE TOWNSEND. It is the original manuscript of the letter
written at its date, by Mr. Townsend, in answer to inquiries for information
addressed to him by Mr. Phineas Stiles, of Wendell, Franklin County,
Massachusetts, in November, 1833, who set forth that two men from Ohio
were actively engaged in his town and vicinity, and with an alarming degree
of success, in efforts to disseminate among the people and in the churches, “a

JESSE TOWNSEND TO PHINEAS STILES, 1833

new revelation and a new religion, which they call the Mormon religion,”
and that they “pretend to be inspired and empowered by God to teach” the
same/ This statement of Mr. Townsend, made soon after the Mormon advent,
now first published, may be regarded as a further important authentication of
the foregoing pioneer history^ of the sect of people now become so prosperous
and powerful in Utah Territory (Tucker 1867, 287).

PALMYRA, WAYNE COUNTY, N.Y., December 24, 1833.
MR. PHINEAS STILES:^

DEAR SIR, — ^Your letter of 29th ultimo, requesting information
concerning the class of people called Mormonites, has been received, and
the following is a sketch of their history:

This new sect was commenced by Joseph Smith, Jr., in the vicinity of
this village some four years ago, and the statement I give you is the truths
incredible as it may appear to you, and shows the folly and weakness of the
people who have listened to and heeded the impositions and falsehoods
propagated by Smith and his associates in iniquity.

I begin with the leader, “Joe,” as he is and always has been called here.
For the ten years I have known any thing of him, he has been a person of
questionable character, of intemperate habits,"^ and latterly a noted money-dig¬
ger. He lived in a sequestered neighborhood, where, with his dupes, his
impostures and low cunning gave him a reputation for being “smart.” He
has had a stone, into which, when placed in a hat, he pretended to look and
see chests of money buried in the earth. He was also a fortune-teller, and he
claimed to know where stolen goods went — probably too well.

Smith flattered a few of his peculiar fraternity to engage with him in dig¬
ging for money. After a while, many of these got out of patience with his false
pretensions and repeated failures; and, finally, to avoid the sneers of those who
had been deceived by him, he pretended that he had found, in digging alone, a
wonderful curiosity, which he [p. 288] kept closely secreted. After telling dif-

1. The words in quotations were evidently taken from Phineas Stiles’s
original letter to Tucker.

2. Referring to his own history of Mormon origins (see IILJ.8,
POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867).

3. Perhaps the same Phineas Stiles (between sixteen and twenty-six
years of age) listed in the 1820 Middletown, Essex County, Massachusetts,
census (1820:582).

4. On Joseph Smith’s drinking, see IILA.2, BARTON STAFFORD
STATEMENT, 3 NOV 1833, n. 4.

MISCELLANEOUS EARLY SOURCES

ferent stories about it, and applying to it different names, he at length called it
the golden plates of the Book of Mormon. As he was questioned on the subject from
time to time, his story assumed a more uniform statement, the term finally given
to the marvellous treasure being the “Golden Bible.”

In the mean time, Joe visited a visionary fanatic by the name of Martin
Harris,^ and told him he had received some golden plates of ancient records
from the Lord, with a “revelation” to call on him for fifty dollars to enable him
to go to Pennsylvania and translate the contents of the plates; at the same time
telling Harris that the Lord had revealed to him that they (Smith and Harris)
were the only honest men in the world. This at once took with the dupe, who
had specially prided himself on his honesty; and the wily deceiver understood
this fact; he knew this was the assailable point in his victim’s visionary mind.
The delicious bait was greedily swallowed; and the fifty dollars was soon put
into the hands of Smith, who cleared for Pennsylvania or elsewhere.^

At that time Martin Harris was worth five or six thousand dollars, while
the Smiths were not worth a cent. The latter used Martin’s money freely;
and some other men, having a great dislike to labor, joined Joe in his
deceptions, among whom was a sort of schoolmaster named Cowdery,^ who
assisted him in writing or transcribing the “Book of Mormon,” as a pretended
translation of the golden plates which he affirmed he had been directed by
the Spirit of the Lord to dig from the earth. This was all done in the most
secret manner. At the same time it was assumed to the un[p. 289]initiated
that it would be “immediate death” for any except the translators to see the
plates. Poor Martin’s faith was apparently strengthened by this pretension,
but afterward the “command” was modified, and he claimed to have seen
the plates with “spiritual eyes.”^

This Harris, who is or has been second in authority among the
Mormonites,^ was an industrious farmer, living near this village, who had

5. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

6. Compare LA.5, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 9; LB.5,
LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:73; and IILA.14, WILLARD
CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11 DEC 1833, 246.

7. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

8. Regarding Harris’s claim to have seen the plates with “spiritual
eyes,” see discussion in “Introduction to Martin Harris Collection.”

9. Harris was undoubtedly prominent in the Mormon community, but
Oliver Cowdery was the “second elder” and later assistant president in the
church.

JESSE TOWNSEND TO PHINEAS STILES, 1833

been unfortunate in the choice of a wife, or she had been in that of a husband.
Like his leader, he gives to their preachers the power to preach and put their
proselytes under water by authority of the new “revelation.” He has whipped
his wife and beaten her so cruelly and frequently, that she was obliged to
seek refuge in separation. He is considered here, to this day, a brute
in his domestic relations, a fool and dupe to Smith in religion, and an
unlearned, conceited hypocrite, generally. He paid for printing the Book of
Mormon, which exhausted all his money and most of his property. Since
he went to Ohio he has attempted to get another wife, though it is believed
he was frustrated in this design by the discovery of his having a living wife
here.

All the Mormonites have left this part of our State, and so palpable is
their imposture that nothing is here said or thought of the subject, except
when inquiries from abroad are occasionally made concerning them. I know
of no one now living in this section of country that ever gave them credence.
Joe Smith dare not come to Palmyra, from fear [p. 290] of his creditors; for
he ran away to avoid their just demands.^

You, sir, may think we treat this matter hghtly; but I give you a correct
statement. You have asked for the facts, and I give them. We consider the
founders and propagators of the Mormon “religion” simply as base impostors,
whose sectarian assertions are false and absurd.

Respectfully yours, etc.,
JESSE TOWNSEND.

10. See in.A.7, LUCY HARRIS STATEMENT, 29 NOV 1833.

11. Ellipses are Tucker’s.

12. See IILL.14, MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829.

13. See III.A.l, MANCHESTER RESIDENTS GROUP STATE¬
MENT, 3 NOV 1833, n. 3.

JESSE TOWNSEND TO ELISHA CAMP,
16 August 1834

Jesse Townsend to Elisha Camp, 16 August 1834, Camp Family Papers, John
M. Olin Library, CorneU University, Ithaca, New York. Published in Sachets'
Harbor Courier (Watertown, New York), date unknown; reprinted in the
Salem (Massachusetts) Landmark, 3 December 1834; unidentified and undated
newspaper clipping in Jonathan B. Turner Papers, Illinois Historical Society
Library, Springfield, Illinois.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Elisha Camp, a lawyer with an extensive practice, came to Sackets
Harbor, Jefferson County, New York, in 1804. Later he helped to settle
nearby Hounsfield. About 1820 Camp and others bought out the local paper
Sachets' Harbor Gazette and Advertiser (1817-20), renaming it the Jefferson
Republican (1820-23). He was also closely associated with the Watertown
Presbytery (Emerson 1898, 185, 242, 319, 640, 650, 653, 654). Camp, in his
forties, along with his wife and many children, are listed in the 1830 census
of Hounsfield, Jefferson County, New York (1830:174).

It was perhaps the early success of Mormon missionaries in Jefferson
County that prompted Camp’s 5 August 1834 letter to the Reverend Jesse
Townsend (see Perciaccante 1993), but the editor of the Sachets' Harbor
Courier gave another reason.

A lazy fellow who was formerly a country pauper, has lately attempted to raise
recraits for “Joe Smith,” on Pillar Point, near this place. He pretended that he
had a withered arm miraculously cured. From a knowledge of this bold at¬
tempt at imposition, and with a view of getting correct information on this
subject of Mormonism, a person in this village addressed a letter to a gentle¬
man of the first respectability in Palmyra, and received the following answer.^

Townsend responded on 16 August 1834 with a brief letter relating
information about Joseph Smith and Mormon origins. Soon after. Camp had

1. Sachets' Harbor Courier, reprinted in unidentified and undated news¬
paper clipping, Jonathan B. Turner Papers, Illinois Historical Society Library,
Springfield, Illinois.

JESSE TOWNSEND TO ELISHA CAMP, 1834

the letter printed in the Sachets' Harbor Courier, published by Janies Howe at
Watertown. The original issue of the Courier cannot be found, but the
Jonathan B. Turner Papers at the Illinois Historical Society Library, Spring-
field, Illinois, include an undated clipping from an unknown newspaper that
reprinted the item directly from the Courier. The present letter, located in
the Camp Family Papers at Cornell University, follows very closely the
wording of Townsend’s previous letter of 24 December 1833 to Phineas
Stiles (compare IILL6, JESSE TOWNSEND TO PHINEAS STILES, 24
DEC 1833, which also includes fuller documentation).

Palmyra, County of Wayne, State of New York. August 16th, 1834.

Dear Sir. Your letter, of the 5th ult, requesting information concerning
the people called Mormonites, Sc concerning their origin Sc leaders, has been
received.

This imposition was begun by Joseph Smith in the vicinity of this
village.

However incredible it may appear, the following statement is correct
Sc shows the great folly & weakness of the people who have credited the
impositions Sc falsehoods which Joseph Smith Sc his associates in iniquity
have propagated.

I begin with the leader he is Sc has been called here for 20

years past. — For 10 years he has been a man of questionable character, of
intemperate habits & a noted Money Digger. He lived in a sequestered
neighborhood, where his loquacity gave him a reputation, with some, for
being smart; these he flattered to assist him in digging for money. These soon
saw his deception Sc got out of patience with him. To avoid their sneers, Joe
pretended that he had, at length, found, by digging, a wonderful curiosity,
which he kept closely concealed.

After Joe had told different stories Sc had called the pretended curiosity
by different names, he, at length, called it. The Golden Plates of the Book
of Mormon.

As Smith was, from time to time, questioned, his story assumed a more
uniform statement.

In the mean time, Joe visited a visionary fanatic, by the name of Harris^
Sc told him he had received some Golden Plates from the Lord with directions
to call on Martin Harris for fifty dollars to enable him to go to Pennsylvania

2. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

MISCELLANEOUS EARLY SOURCES

Sc there translate the contents of those Plates. At the same time he affirmed
to Harris that the Lord had told him that he Sc Martin Harris were the only
honest men in the world. Joe had doubtless heard Martin frequently say this
of himself. This he knew was the assailable point in his visionary mind. The
delicious bait was greedily swallowed. The fifty dollars were soon put into
the hands of Joe Sc he cleared for Pennsylvania.

Martin Harris was then worth five or six thousand dollars Sc the whole
brotherhood of the Smiths were in very low worldly circumstances.

The Smiths used Martin’s money freely — some other men, who had a
great dislike to honest labor, about that time, joined Joe in his acts of
deception. In that reinforcement was a ready writer by name Cowdry^ and
a Whitney"^ who declared he had once been in heaven, who assisted Joe in
writing the Book [p. 1] of Mormon, as a pretended translation of the Golden
Plates which Smith affirmed he had been directed by the Spirit of the Lord
to dig from the earth. The whole was done in the most secret manner. At
the same time. Smith affirmed that it would be immediate death for any one
to see those plates besides himself Sc the writers of the Book of Mormon.
Poor Martin, through his lack of faith Sc his having, at a certain time, refused
to hand over to Joe more money, was excluded from a view of the Plates.^

Previous to that base course of imposition Sc deception Martin Harris
was an industrious farmer, but unfortunate in his choice of a wife; or rather
she was unfortunate in her choice of a husband. It is a truth <of public
notoriety> that Martin Harris, who is the second in authority among the
Mormonites, who gives to their preachers licence to preach Sc authority to
put their prosylites under water, has laid violent hands on his wife. Sc so
cruelly Sc frequently whipped Sc beaten her, that she has had to seek refuge
from his abuse Sc cruelty, among her relatives. To this day he is considered,
in this section of country, in domestic matters, a base scoundrel; in religion,
a dupe to the Smiths; in all things, an un=learned, conceited hypocrite. He
paid for printing five thousand copies of the Book of Mormon, which

3. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

4. This person is not mentioned in Townsend’s earlier letter and re¬
mains unidentified (compare IILL6, JESSE TOWNSEND TO PHINEAS
STILES, 24 DEC 1833).

5. This sentence reads differently in Townsend’s previous letter: “Poor
Martin’s faith was apparently strengthened by this pretension, but afterward
the ‘command’ was modified, and he claimed to have seen the plates with
‘spiritual eyes’” (IILL6, JESSE TOWNSEND TO PHINEAS STILES, 24
DEC 1833). The earlier reading is more accurate.

JESSE TOWNSEND TO ELISHA CAMP, 1834

exhausted all his funds. In Ohio he has attempted to get another wife — Some
one wrote from Ohio & ascertained that his long & greatly abused wife is
still alive in the vicinity of Palmyra & thus defeated him in his iniquity.

All the Mormonites have left this part of our state. I know of no one
in, this section of country, who ever gave them credence. Joe Smith dare
not come into this region from a fear of his creditors from whom he
absconded to avoid paying their just demands. He has had a stone, into which,
when it is placed in a hat, he pretends to look, & to see chests of money
buried in the earth. He is a fortune teller, & says he can tell where stolen
goods go, probably too well.

Harris prophesied that this village was to have been destroyed by
lightning more than two years ago. Some other things, he in like manner
said were then to have happened. As his predictions have all failed, he is now
seldom seen in this region. He knows that he is considered to be a false
prophet & imposter, [p. 2]

The founders & propagators of the Mormon imposition are here
considered as not uttering the truth in any of their sectarian assertions, & as
wholly unworthy of public & individual confidence. The truth always loves
the light. Sc does not refuse to come to the light.

Thus, Dear Sir, you have a general, <but> true delineation of the
Mormonites in their origin & the character of their prominent characters
Smith Sc Harris. Make what use of this communica=tion you please — such
use as you may judge the cause of true religion requires; such as may prevent
the propagation of error Sc delusion.

Yours respectfully,
[s] Jesse Townsend

The above Letter can be seen at this office, Sc the Writer can be
vouched for by persons who know him here, as one in whose statements the
fullest reliance can be placed —

Palmyra Augt. 16. 1834 —

Mr Elisha Camp

6. The following note is written in a different hand, evidently that of
James Howe, editor of the Sachets^ Harbor Courier. These words followed the
publication of Townsend’s letter in the Courier.

W. W. Phelps to Oliver Cowdery,
25 December 1834

W. W. Phelps to Oliver Cowdery, 25 December 1834, “Letter No. 4,” Latter
Day Saints^ Messenger and Advocate 1 (February 1835): 65-67.

EDITORIAL NOTE

In a letter to William W. Phelps,^ dated 7 September 1834, Oliver
Cowdery outlined some early Mormon history, including the angelic ordi¬
nation of Joseph Smith and himself to the priesthood in May 1829. When it
appeared in the Messenger and Advocate in October 1834, it became the first
published announcement of the event — the general membership apparently
being unaware of the angelic source of the priesthood they had been
exercising for the previous four years (see III.G.6, OLIVER COWDERY
TO W. W. PHELPS, 7 SEP 1834). In the present letter, dated 25 December
1834, Phelps responds to Cowdery’s previous letter and asks for information
about the angel’s appearance to Joseph Smith in 1823. Phelps also requests
Cowdery to be more specific in his description of the angel who had appeared
in May 1829, which Cowdery failed to do. Instead, Cowdery describes the
angel who appeared to Smith in 1823. For Cowdery’s response to the present
letter, see IILG.8, OLIVER COWDERY TO W. W. PHELPS, FEB 1835.

Liberty, Mo. Christmas, 1834.

DEAR BROTHER:—

Your letter from Norton (O.) dated Sept. 7, 1834, came to me by mail,
last week, through the medium of the Messenger and Advocate. I am glad
you “have thought that a full history of the rise of the church of Latter Day
Saints, and the most interesting part of its progress, to the present time, would
be worthy the perusal of the saints.” The history of the saints, according to
sacred writ, is the only record which has stood the test and ravages of time
from the beginning; and a true account of the revival of the Lord’s church,
so near the great Sabbath of creation, must be a source and subject of holy

1. On W. W. Phelps (1792-1872), see introduction to IILG.6,
OLIVER COWDERY TO W. W. PHELPS, 7 SEP 1834.

W. W. PHELPS TO OLIVER COWDERY, 1834

joy to the pure in heart; and an interesting preface of things to come, that
might arrest the attention of the world, before the Lord shows his naked arm
to the nations, if the children of men would read and understand.

I pray our heavenly Father to assist you, so that you may be enabled to
spread the truth before the eyes of this generation, ere destruction comes as
a whirl- wind upon the ungodly. Strive, with your might, to be simple, plain,
easy and unaffected in your style, showing the shining world, that though
many may continue to run after one that is able to give gold to his friends,
and lead to his enemies, you, with the Israel of God, will rejoice in having
light enough to follow HIM who has power to give eternal life to his friends,
and will overcome his enemies.

There are some items in your letter which are great, and revive old
thoughts that, long since, were left to float down the gulf of departed things,
into the maze of forgetfulness. The first one is where you sat day after day
and wrote the history of the second race that inhabited this continent, as the
words were repeated to you by the Lord’s prophet, through the aid of the
“Urim and Thumim,” “Nephite Interpreters,” or Divine Spectacles. I mean
when you wrote the book of Mormon, containing the fulness of the gospel
to the world, and the covenant to gather Israel, for the last time, as well as
the history of the Indians, who, till then, had neither origin among men, nor
records amid the light and knowledge of the great 19th century.

Fresh comes a story into my mind, that, in 1823, before the book of
Mormon was known among us, a sacred record, or, as I had it, another bible,
written or engraved upon thin gold leaves, containing more plainness than
the one we had, but agreeing with it, had been found near Canandaigua,
N.Y. The characters in which it was written, were of a language once used
upon the eastern continent, but obsolete and unknown then. I was somewhat
surprised at the remarkable discovery, or news, though I never knew to this
day, how I came by it. Like Paul, who did not know whether he was in the
body, or out of it, at a certain time, I cannot tell whether I dreamed; or
whether some person told me; or whether an angel whispered such strange
tidings. I mentioned it a few times, but was rather laughed at, and so I said
no more about it, till after I had removed to Canandaigua, when the book
of Mormon was published.

At that day, or, in fact, I always believed the scriptures, and believed
that there was such a sacred thing as pure religion; but I never believed that
any of the sects of the day, had it, and so I was ever ready to argue up, or
down, any church; and that, too, by evidence from the good old book, an
intimacy with which I had formed in infancy and cherished in age. When
the story related above, first found a resting place in my tabernacle, I rejoiced

MISCELLANEOUS EARLY SOURCES

that there was something coming to point the right way to heaven. So it was,
and, thank God, so it is.

In the history you are writing,^ you cannot be too plain and minute in
particulars. ... [p. 65] ...

While I think of it, let me ask you to explain, or state what the angel
said when he informed brother J[oseph]. S[mith]. jr. that a treasure was about
to come forth to this generation.

The next item I shall notice, is, (a glorious one,) when the angel
conferred the “priesthood upon you, his fellow servants.” That was an august
meeting of men and angels, and brought again, upon earth, the keys of the
mysteries of the kingdom of God. I am aware that our language lacks terms,
and we fail in power to set forth the sublimity of such a holy scene, but we
can remember the glory and tell the appearance in such words as we have,
and let God add the majesty and omnipotence to the sacred interview. Our
ancient brethren were careful to notice angel’s visits, and note what they
said, and how careful ought we to be? ... [p. 66] ...^

W. W. PHELPS.

2. This refers to Cowdery’s ongoing correspondence with Phelps and
their publication in the Messenger and Advocate (see “Oliver Cowdery Collec™
tion”).

3. Phelps relates a dream/ vision that he experienced on the night of 16
November 1834, then states: “From this I judge, that a scene of heavenly
things, seen with the naked eye, is so perfectly retained, that you can give
every particular” (66).

W. W. PHELPS TO Oliver Cowdery,
21 FEBRUARY 1835

W. W. Phelps to Oliver Cowdery, 21 February 1835, “Letter No. 6,” Latter
Day Saints^ Messenger and Advocate 1 (April 1835): 97.

EDITORIAL NOTE

On 21 February 1835, WiUiam W. Phelps^ responded to Oliver
Cowdery’s letter published in the Messenger and Advocate in December 1834
(see III.G.7, OLIVER COWDERY TO W. W. PHELPS, DEC 1834). In
the present letter, Phelps describes his early investigation of Mormonism in
New York.

Liberty, Mo. Feb. 21, 1835.

Dear Bro. in the Lord: — I take little time to answer your 3rd letter,
addressed to me in the December number of the Messenger and Advocate.
Passing your apology, I come at once to the great point in question, that this
church has sulBFered persecution from its commencement; and that, too, in
most cases, without the least provocation. Here suffer me to say, as you and
I are fellow members, and have been co-servants nearly from the beginning,
that we have known by example, what thousands are preaching in precept,
that “they that wiU live Godly in Christ Jesus, must suffer persecution.”

Now, notwithstanding my body was not baptized into this church till
Thursday the 16th of June, 1831, yet my heart was there from the time I
became acquainted with the book of Mormon; and my hope, steadfast like
an anchor, and my faith increased like the grass after a refreshing shower,
when I for the first time, held a conversation with our beloved brother
Joseph, (December 24th, 1830,) who I was willing to acknowledge as a
prophet of the Lord, and to whom, and to whose godly account of himself
and the work he was engaged in, I owe my first determination to quit the
folly of my way, and the fancy and fame of this world, and seek the Lord and
his righteousness, in order to enter a better world, where the duration, and
glory, and honor, and power, and space, are equal and endless. ...

1. On W. W. Phelps (1792-1872), see introduction to IILG.6,
OLIVER COWDERY TO W. W. PHELPS, 7 SEP 1834.

MISCELLANEOUS EARLY SOURCES

Well may you say that it is known unto me, “that this church has
suffered reproach and persecution from a majority of mankind who have
heard but a rumor, since its first organization, [”] See. — So it is. On the 30th
of April, 1830, I was thrown into prison at Lyons, ^ N.Y. by a couple of
Presbyterian traders, for a small debt, for the purpose, as I was informed, of
“keeping me from joining the Mormons.”^ How many hair-breadth escapes
you and brother Joseph passed, for writing and publishing the truth in the
book of Mormon, as the constitution and law allowed, I know not, but I
heard church members and others declare in language similar to the follow¬
ing; that every believer in the ‘Golden Bible,’ (as the book of Mormon was
called by many) ought to be sued and sent or driven out of society. The
Rochester Observer, one of the principal Presbyterian organs of the day,
introduced the book of Mormon to the world with a flashy article headed
Blasphemy]'^ and to cap the climax of gullibility, against which the ‘men of
the meeting houses’ showed an ardent zeal to guard their flocks, it was
carefully circulated, that ‘a Jesuit’ had employed a young man by the name
of Cowdery, to write, and through the aid of one Smith, was bringing forth
a book to break down all religions. ...

But I will not pursue this subject further at present, leaving it for your
addition of facts. Instead of standing in the way, and asking for the old paths,
they have stood in the way, and put darkness for light, and light for darkness,
till not only ‘large check of their opinions, and attested volumes of our lives
and characters,’ have 'inundated our land with scurrilous reports,’ but the

2. Footnote in original reads: “My family sick at my residence in Ca¬
nandaigua.” Phelps’s dating of his imprisonment is one year off as indicated
by a letter he wrote from the Lyons jail dated 30 April 1831, a portion of
which reads: “While I was at Palmyra, comparing the ‘Book of Mormon’
with the Bible, to find out the truth, and investigating the matter for public

good, - , members of the church and pretended anti-masons,

sent their foolish clerk from Canandaigua, and took me with a warrant, and
obtained a judgment against me, on a balance of their account. This was done
after I had engaged a passage home, having learned that my family were sick.
An execution was sworn out on the spot, and I was hurried to jail in the
course of the night, where I shall stay thirty days ...” {Wayne Sentinel 8 [13
May 1831]: [3], reprinting from Geneva Gazette, and Mercantile Advertiser 22
[11 May 1831]: [2]).

3. Concerning this incident, Sidney Rigdon said: “I recollect elder
Phelps being put in jail for reading the Book of Mormon. He came to see us,
and expressed great astonishment, and left us apparently pondering in his
heart” (VI.F.5, SIDNEY RIGDON REMINISCENCE, 1844).

4. Compare III.K.l, ROCHESTER (NY) GEM, 15 MAY 1830.

W. W. PHELPS TO OLIVER COWDERY, 1835

blood of the saints has curdled upon the sacred soil of freedom. ...

As ever,

W. W. PHELPS.

10.

J. N. T. TUCKER STATEMENT, 1842

J. N. T. Tucker to the Editor, 23 May 1842, “Mormonism — Some Curious
Facts,” Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy (Boston) 3 (8 June 1842):
79-80. Reprinted in John C. Bennett, The History of the Saints; or, An Expose
of Joe Smith and Mormonism (Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842), 122-23.

Editorial Note

According to John H. Gilbert, J. N. T. Tucker was a cousin of Pomeroy
Tucker and, after a short stay in Palmyra, “went to Groton, Ct., got married,
became a preacher — Baptist I believe — committed some crime, — was tried
and accquitted on the plea of insanity — he was a ‘bad egg.’” Gilbert also
refuted Tucker’s published statement: “J. N. T. Tucker ... did not work in
the office at the time the Mormon Bible was printed, but did subsequently
a short time, if my memory serves me. ... His statement in regard to a page
of the manuscript being spirited away by some of the typos in the office, is
totaUy untrue” (see III.H.3, JOHN H. GILBERT TO JAMES T. COBB,
16 MAR 1879, 1).

MESSRS. EDITORS, — Having noticed in a late number of the Signs of the
Times, a notice of a work entitled “Mormon Delusions and Monstrosi¬
ties”^ — it occurred to me that it might perhaps be of service to the cause of
truth, to state one circumstance in relation to the authenticity of the “Book
of Mormon” which occurred during its publication, at which time I was a
practical printer, and engaged in the office where it was printed, and became
familiar with the men and their principles, through whose agency it was “got
up.”

The circumstance alluded to was as follows: — e had heard much said
by Martin Harris,^ the man who paid for the printing, (and the only one in

1. On Pomeroy Tucker (1802-70), see introduction to III.J.5,
POMEROY TUCKER REMINISCENCE, 1858.

2. Joshua Vaughan Himes, Mormon Delusions and Monstrosities. A Re¬
view of the Book of Mormon and an Illustration of Mormon Principles and Practices
(Boston: Joshua V. Himes, 1842).

3. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

J. N. T. TUCKER STATEMENT, 1842

the concern worth any property) about the wonderful wisdom of the
translators of the mysterious plates, and resolved to test their wisdom.
Accordingly, after putting one sheet in type, we laid it aside, and told Harris
it was lost, and there would be a serious defection in the book in conse¬
quence, unless another sheet like the original could be produced. The
announcement threw the old gentleman into quite an excitement. But after
a few moment’s reflection, he said he would try to obtain another. After two
or three weeks another sheet was produced, but no more like the original
than any other sheet of paper would have been, written over by a common
schoolboy, after having read, as they did, the manuscripts preceding and
succeeding the lost sheet.

As might be expected, the disclosure of the plan greatly annoyed the
authors, and caused no little merriment among those who were acquainted
with the circumstance. As we were none of us Christians, and only labored
for the “gold that perisheth,” we did not care for the delusion, only so far as
to be careful to avoid it ourselves and enjoy the hoax. Not one of the hands
in the office where the wonderful book was printed ever became a convert
to the system, although the writer of this was often assured by Harris if he
did not, he would be destroyed in 1832.^

I am well acquainted with the two gentlemen whose names appear on
page[s] 50, 51, in the work referred to at the head of this article, and know
the certificate above their names to be [p. 79] true. I have known several
instances of the grossest impostures by them in their pretensions of working
miracles, &c. &c., and am greatly surprised that such a man as Nickerson of

4. With Gilbert’s denial and the existence of two manuscript copies of
the Book of Mormon, one is tempted to dismiss Tucker’s story as a complete
fabrication, perhaps inspired by Martin Harris’s loss of the manuscript in 1828
and Smith’s preface to the 1830 edition. However, apparently typesetting had
exceeded preparation of the printer’s manuscript, so rather than having the
press work stop, the original dictated manuscript was used by the typesetter
for the portion from Helaman 13 through Mormon (Skousen 1992, 23-24).
Thus Tucker’s story is not as easily discredited as one might assume.

5. Concerning Harris’s prediction, see III.H.IO, JOHN H. GILBERT
MEMOILANDUM, 8 SEP 1892, 4.

6. Freeman Nickerson (1778-1847) was born in South Dennis, Massa¬
chusetts. He married Huldah Chapman in 1801, and together they parented
nine children. He was baptized by Zerubbabel Snow in April 1833, and soon
after moved to Kirtland, Ohio. He served several missions in the United
States and Canada, including one to Boston. He died at Chariton River,

Iowa (Jenson 1971, 4:690-91). In 1842 Nickerson published in the local
newspaper a warning to the inhabitants of Boston: “I request the citizens and

MISCELLANEOUS EARLY SOURCES

your city, can induce any rational person to follow in his pernicious ways.

Mrs. Harris, the wife of Martin Harris, was so familiar with the
monstrous wickedness and folly of her husband, and the trio who were
engaged with him, that she would not follow him nor live with him.^ His
conduct was not such as a man of God would have been. After he had been
absent about two years, and frequent reports of his having power to heal the
sick, &c. had reached his neighborhood, he returned and assured his wife
that he could cure her of deafness with which she was afflicted. But as a
condition of so doing, he required her to put into his hands about $1,500 of
money which she had managed to secure out of the avails of his property,
which he sold on joining the “latter day saints” colony. She assured him he
should have every dollar as soon as her hearing was restored. But he very
wisely replied, he could “have no evidence of her faith until she put the cash
down” — so of course she remained deaf, and Martin went back to the
“promised land” with pockets as light as when he came.

This is no doubt one of the great deceptions which should come upon
the people on the eve of the second coming of the Son of Man. Let the saints
of God beware of them. Let no persecution or violence be opposed to them,
but simply an avoidance, and we shall soon find them without faith.

Yours in the gospel of Christ,
J. N. T. TUCKER.

Groton, May 23, 1842.

authorities of the city of Boston, to open a house for the servant of the peo¬
ple, that the Lord hath sent to this city to warn the people of the destruction
which will take place in this generation, that is now on earth, and teach them
how they may escape, and come through and abide the day of the second
coming of Christ” (from the Dollar Weekly Bostonian, as reprinted in the
Times and Seasons 3 [16 May 1842]: 798).

7. See IILA.7, LUCY HARRIS STATEMENT, 29 NOV 1833.

Solomon Chamberlain Accounts,
1845 & Circa 1858

1. John Taylor, Journal (January 1845-September 1845), 50-54,
entry of April 1845, in possession of Brent Ashworth, Provo, Utah.

2. Solomon Chamberlain, “A Short Sketch of the Life of Solomon
Chamberlin,” circa 1858, 4-12, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake
City, Utah.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Solomon Chamberlain (1788-1862) was born in Old Canaan, Con¬
necticut. By 1829 he was living in Lyons, Wayne County, New York. He
visited the Smiths in Palmyra about August-September 1829, while the Book
of Mormon was at press. Taking sixty-four uncut pages from Grandin’s press,
Chamberlain became one of the first missionaries of the church as he traveled
through western New York and as far as Canada preaching the Book of
Mormon. He may have been the first to contact Brigham and Phineas Young
(see IILK.23, PHINEAS HOWE YOUNG AUTOBIOGRAPHY, 1863).
He was also responsible for the conversions of Mayhew, Sarah, and Silas
Hillman of Spafford, Onondaga County, New York (see III. K. 25, SILAS
HILLMAN RTMINISCENCE, 1866). Shortly after the church’s organiza¬
tion on 6 April 1830, Chamberlain was baptized by Joseph Smith in Fayette,
New York, and was ordained a priest by Hyrum Smith. Chamberlain was
also one of the first in the church to settle in Jackson County, Missouri, in
the early 1830s, and was a member of the first company of Mormons to arrive
in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Chamberlain, age sixty-two, is listed in the
1850 census of Salt Lake City, Utah, as a “Cooper” (1850:25). He died in
Washington County, Utah (Jenson 1971, 2:605-606, 4:696; Cannon and
Cook 1983, 253).

Chamberlain’s early experience with Mormonism is preserved in two
sources. The earliest was recorded by John Taylor in his journal in April
1845. Taylor’s journal is presently in the possession of collector Brent
Ashworth of Provo, Utah, but was published by Dean C. Jessee in 1983,
from which the present transcription was taken (see Jessee 1983, 44-46; see
also Ensign, December 1983, 48-49). The second version, written by

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

Chamberlain himself, was probably composed in 1858. Chamberlain states
near the end of his autobiography that his youngest daughter at the time of
writing was eight years old; this evidently refers to Chamberlain’s daughter,
Louisa, who was born about 1850 (see U.S. Census, Salt Lake City, Utah,
1850:25). Included with Chamberlain’s autobiography is a cover letter to
Albert Carrington, dated 1 1 July 1858, giving the latter permission to publish
“a short sketch of my life” in the Deseret News, although apparently it was
never published in that periodical. According to Larry C. Porter, as of 1972
the holograph of Chamberlain’s autobiography was in the possession of Mrs.
Albert D. Swensen (Jennie Romney), a great-granddaughter of Chamberlain
living in Provo, Utah (see Porter 1971, 360-63; and Porter 1972, 315-18),
and was subsequently donated to the LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City,
Utah, in 1977 (Porter 1977-78, 124, n. 1). While Taylor’s account varies
from Chamberlain’s autobiography in a number of places, the nearly identical
language and order may indicate that Taylor took his information from an
early draft of Chamberlain’s autobiography.

[l.John Taylor Journal, April t84S]^

Speaking a few days since with a man of the name of Solomon
Chamberlin, he related some particulars that I thought interesting concerning
the manner that he was brought to obey the truth; and concerning the early
rise of the Church as he was one of the first members. I wiU relate it in his
own words: [p. 50]

‘T joined the Methodists when I was 19 years of age. I then commenced
reading and studying the bible, and found they (the Methodists) were wrong
in many things. About the year 1814 or 1815 the reformed Methodists came
off from the Episcopal; and I was in hopes they were right. I joined them,
and remained a member until some time after 1816. At this time the heads
of the Church and some families myself with the rest, purchased a farm that
cost $25,000, and moved on to it, thinking that the day of gathering had
come; and we came into common stock, striving to come on to the Apostle’s
ground. We believed in revelation and the healing of the sick through faith
and prayer; but we were wrong in many things, we had no prophet nor
priesthood. This year (1816) we found we were mistaken in many things.
At this time I felt very anxious to know whether there were any people on
the earth whose principles were right in all things; for I was tired of aU orders

1. On John Taylor (1808-87), see introduction to LA.27, JOHN
TAYLOR ACCOUNT, 1850.

SOLOMON CHAMBERLAIN ACCOUNTS, 1845 & CIRCA 1858

unless they had the true principles of God: I believed we might receive
revelation for ourselves: I believed if we lacked wisdom and humbled
ourselves before God in mighty prayer, and asked in sincerity he would give
us; I did so with all my heart, and he answered my prayer. The Lord revealed
to me in a vision of the night an angel, I thought if I could ask him, he could
tell me all I wanted to know. I accordingly asked him if we were right. He
said not one of us were right, and that there were no people on earth that
were right; but that the Lord would in his own due time raise up a church,
different from all others, and he would give power and authority as in the
days of Christ; and he would carry it through, and it should never be
confounded; and that I should live to see the day, and know the work when
it came forth; and that great persecution should follow, and much more after
this he told me. I proclaimed it to the world and all people what I had seen
and heard; [p. 51] and that all denominations on earth were as John said
constituted the great whore of aU the earth.

Somewhere about the time that Joseph Smith found the record of the
Book of Mormon, I began to feel as though the time was nearly come, that
had been made known to me by the angel. I made some inquiries through
the country if there was any strange work of God, such as had not been on
the earth since the days of Christ. I was then living on the Erie Canal forty
miles below Rochester^; I had occasion to go on a visit to Canada. I took
[a] boat for Lockport; when the boat came to Palmyra, I felt as if some genii
or good spirit told me to leave the boat, and go or travel a south course; I
did so for about three miles. (I had not yet heard of the gold bible so called
at that time, nor any of the Smith family, I was an entire stranger in that part
of the country.) Here my guide told me I must put up for the night; and I
heard of the Smiths and the gold bible for the first time. I was now within
half a mile of Joseph Smith’s father’s house where my guide had brought
me. — In the morning the woman asked me if I had heard of the gold bible.
I told her I had not; and there was something began on the top of my head
and went to my toes hke electricity: I said to myself I shall soon find why I
have been led to this place in this singular manner. It only being about half
a mile from there across lots to Father Smith’s. I soon arrived at the house,
and found Hyrum*^ walking the floor; as I entered the room, I said peace be
to this house; he looked at me and said ‘T hope it will be peace.” I then said

2. At this time, Chamberlain apparently lived at Lyons, Wayne
County, New York.

3. On Hyrum Smith (1800-44), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 12.

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

is there any one here that believes in visions and revelations. He said yes, we
are a visionary house. I then said I will give you one of my pamphlets,"^ (which
was visionary and of my own composition) and if you are a visionary house,
I wish you would make [p. 52] known some of your discoveries, I think I
can bear them. They then began to make known to me, that they had
obtained a gold record, and had just finished translating it. Here I staid, and
they instructed me in the manuscripts of the Book of Mormon; after I had
been there two days, I went with Hyrum and some others to [the] Palmyra
printing office, where they began to print the Book of Mormon; and as soon
as they had printed sixty-four pages I took them and started for Canada^; and
I preached to all that I saw, high and low, rich and poor, and all that I knew
concerning the work. I had but few to oppose, they had not made up their
minds, and they knew not what to think of it. I did not see any one in
travelling six or seven hundred miles, that had ever heard of the gold bible
so called. When I returned from Canada, I went to Massachusetts, and
preached the work to all both great and small; and told them to prepare for
the great work of God, that was now coming forth, that would never be
confounded nor be brought down; but would stand for ever and be like unto
the apostolic church. As soon as the books were printed, I took eight or ten
of them, and started off to sell and to preach; for you could not sell one
without a great deal of preaching. I labored hard for eight days and sold one
book on which I made twenty-five cents, and bore my own expenses. I
carried them to the reform Methodist Conference, there I found Phineas^
and Brigham Young^ with whom I had been acquainted before. I thought I

4. In 1989 Rick Grunder located and sold to Brigham Young Univer¬
sity: [Solomon Chamberlain], A Sketch of the experience of Solomon Chamberlin,
to Which Is Added a Remarkable Revelation or Trance, of His Father-in-Law, Philip
Haskins: How His Soul Actually Left His Body and Was Guided by a Holy Angel
to Eternal Day (Lyons, New York: [Published by the Author?], 1829), 12pp.
(recently published in Porter 1997-98, 131-40).

5. Chamberlain evidently was not the only person to carry away proof
sheets of the Book of Mormon. Oliver Cowdery also gave proof sheets to his
brother Warren A. Cowdery of Freedom, Cattaraugus County, New York,
who then showed them to Heman Hyde of the same town. Hyde was later
converted to Mormonism (see “The Private Journal of William Hyde,” 6,
typescript. Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young Uni¬
versity, Provo, Utah; cf. Jenson 1971, 1:759).

6. On Phineas H. Young (1799-1879), see introduction to III.K.23,
PHINEAS HOWE YOUNG AUTOBIOGRAPHY, 1863.

7. On Brigham Young (1801-77), see introduction to III. K. 19,
BRIGHAM YOUNG ACCOUNTS, 1855 & 1857.

SOLOMON CHAMBERLAIN ACCOUNTS, 1845 & CIRCA 1858

could soon convince the whole conference of the truth of the Book of
Mormon, but I soon found my mistake, for after laboring with them for two
days, they rejected me. Phineas and Brigham Young used me well. I returned
home and on the way preached it to the Free Will Baptist Church, and they
received it, and soon after the Church was established a number of them
were baptized. Soon after this I was bap[p. 53]tized by Joseph Smith in the
waters of Seneca Lake,^ and emigrated to Ohio. ...

[2. Solomon Chamberlain Autobiography, Circa 1858]

... About the year 1814, or 15, the reformed Methodist[s] broke off from
the Episcopal Methodists. I found them to be more right than the Episcopal,
and joined them about this time the Lord shewed me in a vision, that there
was no people on the earth that was right, and that faith was gone from the
earth, excepting a few and that all Churches were corrupt. I further saw in
the vision, that he would soon raise up a Church, that would be after the
Apostolic Order, that there would be in it the same [p. 4] powers, and gifts
that were in the days of Christ, and that I should live to see the day, and that
there would a book come forth, like unto the Bible and the people would be
guided by it, as well as the Bible. This was in the year of 1816. I then believed
in gifts and miracles as the Latter day Saints do, for which I was much
persecuted and called deluded. This vision I received from an Angel or Spirit
from the Eternal World that told me these things.

About the time that Joseph Smith found the gold record, I began to
feel that the time was drawing near, that the Lord would in some shape or
other, bring forth his Church, [p. 5] I made some inquiry thro the country
where I traveled if there was any strange work of God, such as had not been
on the earth since the days of Christ. I could hear of none, I was living about
20 miles east of where the gold record was found, on the Erie Canal. I had
occasion to go on a visit into upper Canada. I took [a] boat for Lockport,
when the boat came to Palmyra, I felt as if some genii or good Spirit told
me to leave the boat, this was a few miles from where the record was found.
After leaving the boat, the spirit manifested to me, to travel a South course,
I did so for about 3 miles, I had not as yet heard of the gold bible (so called)
nor any of the Smith family. I was a stranger in that part of the [p. 6] Country,
a Town where I never before had set my foot, and knew no one in the

8. The exact date of Chamberlain’s baptism is unknown. In his autobi¬
ography, Chamberlain says that he was baptized “a few days after” the
church’s organization on 6 April 1830 (see below).

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

Town. It was about sun down, and my guide directed me to put up for the
night, which I did to a Farm house, in the morning the people of the house
asked me if I had heard of the Gold Bible, when they said Gold Bible there
was a power like electricity went from the top of my head to the end of my
toes. This was the first time I ever heard of the gold Bible. I was now within
half a mile of the Smith family where Joseph lived, from the time I left the
boat until now, I was wholly led by the Spirit or my Genii. The women
spoke considerable of the gold bible that Joseph Smith had found. When she
mentioned gold Bible, I felt a shock of the power of God go from head to
foot, [p. 7] I said to myself, I shall soon find why I have been led in this
singular manner. I soon made my way across lots, to Father Smith’s and found
Flyrum walking the floor. As I entered the door, I said, peace be to this
house. Fie looked at me as one astonished, and said, I hope it will be peace,
I then said. Is there any one here that believes in visions or revelations he
said Yes, we are a visionary house. I said. Then I wiU give you one of my
pamphlets, which was visionary, and of my own experience. They then called
the people together, which consisted of 5 or 6 men who were out at the
door. Father Smith^ was one & some of the Whitmer’s. They then sat down
and read my pamphlet. Hyrum read first, but was so affected he could not
read it. He then gave it to a man, which I learned was [p. 8] Christian
Whitmer, he finished reading it. I then opened my mouth and began to
preach to them, in the words that the angel had made known to me in the
vision, that all Churches and Denominations on the earth had become
corrupt, and no Church of God on the Earth but that he would shortly rise
up a Church, that would never be confounded nor brought down and be
like unto the Apostolic Church. They wondered greatly who had been
telling me these things, for said they we have the same things wrote down
in our house, taken from the Gold record, that you are preaching to us. I
said, the Lord told me these things a number of years ago, I then said. If you
are a visionary house, I wish you would make known some of your
discoveries, [p. 9] for I think I can bear them. They then made known to
me that they had obtained a gold record, and just finished translating it here.
<Now the Lord revealed to me by the gift & power of the Holy Ghost that
this was the work I had been looking for.>^^ Here I staid 2 days and they
instructed me, in the manuscripts of the Book of Mormon. After I had been

9. On Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

10. On Christian Whitmer (1798-1835), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 96.

1 1 . This insertion is in different ink.

SOLOMON CHAMBERLAIN ACCOUNTS, 1845 & CIRCA 1858

there 2 days, I went with Hyrum and some others to [the] Palmyra printing
office where they began to print the Book of Mormon, and as soon as they
had printed 64 pages, I took them with their leave and pursued my journey
to Canada, and I preached all that I knew concerning Mormonism, to all
both high and low, rich and poor, and thus you see this was the first that
ever printed Mormonism was preached to this generation. I did not see any
one in traveling for 800 miles, that had ever heard of the [p. 10] Gold Bible
(so called). I exhorted all people to prepare for the great work of God that
was now about to come forth, and it would never be brought down nor
confounded. As soon as the Book was printed, I took 8 or 10 of them &
traveled for 8 days, and sold one in that time. About this time I thot if I could
see the reformed Methodists I could convince them of the truth of the Book
of Mormon. I accordingly went to one of their conferences, where I met
about 40 of their preachers and labored with them for 2 days to convince
them of the truth of the Book of Mormon, and they utterly rejected me, and
the Book of Mormon. One of their greatest preachers so called, by the name
of [p. 11] Buckly,^^ (if I mistake not) abused me very bad, and ordered me
off from their premises. He was soon, taken crazy, and died a miserable death,
at this conference was Brigham and his brother Phinehas Young, they did
not oppose me but used me well. On my way home I stopped at their Camp
meeting, where I found one of their greatest preachers, whom I contended
with concerning the Book of Mormon, by the name of W[illia]m Lake,^^
who utterly condemned it and rejected it, who spurned at me and the Book
and said, if it was of God, Do you think He would send such a little upstart
as you are round with it. but he soon after died a poor drunken sot. While
on my way home I stopped at a free will Baptist Church, and preached to a
large congregation, and they received the [p. 12] work, but there was no one
to baptize them, the Church was not yet organized, but was soon after [on]
April 6th 1830. a few days after I was baptized in the waters of Seneca Lake
by Joseph Smith, and emmigrated [the] same spring^^ to Kirtland[,] Ohio

12. This person, also named by Phineas Young, remains unidentified
(see IILK.23, PHINEAS HOWE YOUNG AUTOBIOGILAPHY, 1863,

375).

13. This person remains unidentified.

14. Later in his autobiography, Chamberlain also states that “[i]n the
spring of 1830 I was ordained a Priest, under the hands of Hyrum Smith.”

15. This is apparently an error since Chamberlain immigrated to Kirt-
land, Ohio, in the spring of 1831.

Orsamus Turner Account, 1851

0[rsamus]. Turner, History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham's
Purchase (Rochester, New York: William Ailing, 1851), 212-17. Published
in LittelVs Living Age 30 (July-September 1851), reprinting from Rochester
American.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Orsamus Turner (1801-55) was born in western New York. A printer
by trade, he served his “apprenti[ce]ship in a newspaper office at Palmyra”
in 1818 and 1819 (Turner 1851, 400). He evidently worked under Timothy
S. Strong, who began publishing the Palmyra Register in October 1818.
Turner also served an apprenticeship under James Bemis at Canandaigua,
perhaps in 1821 and 1822 (Turner 1851, 459, 499; R. L. Anderson 1969a,
377). About August 1822 Turner moved to Lockport, New York, where he
purchased the new Lockport Observatory (1822-27) (Turner 1850, 655; R. L.
Anderson 1969a, 378). Turner also published at Lockport the Sentinel and
Observatory (1827) and the Lockport Balance (1831).

The gap (from 1827 to 1831) in Turner’s publishing carrier was perhaps
the result of his difficulties with the Masons. In 1827 Turner was “arrested
and charged to appear” in the trial of William Morgan’s kidnappers at
Canandaigua, New York (see Rochester Observer, 1 September 1827, and 11
September 1827). Turner was freed on a $1,000 bail, necessitating the
liquidation of his interest in the Niagara Sentinel (see Rochester Album, 23
October 1827). The widely publicized trial took place in Canandaigua in
August 1828. Turner was cited for contempt for refusing to testify, but was
eventually acquitted for lack of evidence (see Ontario Phoenix, 21 July 1830,
and 4 August 1830).

In later years Turner became a regional historian, writing and publish¬
ing Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase of Western New York (Buffalo, New
York: H. Derby and Co., 1850), and History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps
and Gorham's Purchase (Rochester, New York: William Ailing, 1851). In
preparing an article, titled “Gold Bible — Mormonism,” for his last named
book. Turner wrote a letter, dated 22 September 1851, to Thomas Gregg of
Warsaw, Illinois, seeking information about the Mormons in that state. In
this letter Turner explained: “I am preparing for the press a History of
Mormonism. I start with them from Palmyra, in this state, where I am

ORSAMUS TURNER ACCOUNT, 1851

fa=miliar with their history and trace them to Salt Lake and Beaver Island”
(Mormon Collection, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, Illinois).

Richard L. Anderson has argued that “Turner’s personal recollections
of Joseph Smith of necessity refer to the period prior to the late summer of
1822 and are probably no later than 1820, the latest date of Palmyra memoirs
in his writings” (R. L. Anderson 1969a, 378). While Turner includes the
reminiscences of “several citizens of Palmyra,” it is also possible for Turner
to have occasionally returned to the Palmyra/Manchester area either on
business or to visit friends. Indeed, his participation in the Morgan trial
brought him into the area for an extended time in 1828 (see Walters 1969b,
99). Yet much of what Turner writes, particularly about events subsequent
to his departure from the area, is from the standpoint of a distant observer.

As we are now at the home of the Smith family — in sight of “Mormon
Hill” — a brief pioneer history will be looked for, of the strange, and singularly
successful religious sect — the Mormons; and brief it must be, merely starting
it in its career, and leaving to their especial historian to trace them to Kirtland,
Nauvoo, Beaver Island, and Utah, or the Salt Lake.

Joseph Smith, ^ the father of the prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., was from
the Merrimack river, N.H.^ He first settled in or near Palmyra village,^ but
as [p. 212] early as 1819 was the occupant of some new land on “Stafford
street” in the town of Manchester, near the line of Palmyra."^ “Mormon Hill”
is near the plank road about half way between the villages of Palmyra and

1. On Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

2. Joseph Smith, Sr., was born in Topsfield, Massachusetts, south of
the Merrimack River, in 1771. In 1772 his parents moved to Windham,

New Hampshire, northeast of the river, then on the west side to Dunbarton
in 1774. In 1778 Joseph Sr.’s father, Asael Smith, purchased a 100-acre farm
on the Merrimack River at Derryfield. It was here that Joseph Sr. grew up.
Smith was about twenty when he moved with his family to Tunbridge, Ver¬
mont (see R. L. Anderson 1971b, 89-115).

3. The Smiths originally lived in Palmyra Village at the west end of
Main Street, from about 1816 to 1819 (see IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER
ACCOUNT, 1867, 12; and IILL.l, PALMYRA [NY] ROAD LISTS, 1817-
1822).

4. Footnote in the original reads: “Here the author remembers to have
first seen the family, in the winter of ’[18] 19, ’[18]20, in a rude log house,
with but a small spot underbrushed around it.” This was probably the Jen¬
nings cabin just north of the Palmyra/Manchester township line (see IILL.2,
PALMYILA [NY] HIGHWAY SURVEY, 13 JUN 1820).

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

Manchester. The elder Smith had been a Universalist,^ and subsequently a
Methodist; was a good deal of a smatterer in Scriptural knowledge: but the
seed of revelation was sown on weak ground; he was a great babbler,
credulous, not especially industrious, a money digger, prone to the marvel¬
lous; and withal, a little given to difficulties with neighbors, and petty
law-suits.^ Not a very propitious account of the father of a Prophet, — the
founder of a state; but there was a “woman in the case.” However present,
in matters of good or evil! — In the garden of Eden, in the siege of Troy, on
the field of Orleans [France], in the dawning of the Reformation, in the
Palace of St. Petersburgh, and Kremlin of Moscow, in England’s history, and
Spain’s proudest era; and here upon this continent, in the persons of Ann
Lee, Jemima Wilkinson, and as we are about to add, Mrs. Joseph Smith! A
mother’s influences; in the world’s history, in the history of men, how
distinct is the impress! — In heroes, in statesmen, in poets, in all of good or
bad aspirations, or distinctions, that single men out from the mass, and give
them notoriety; how often, almost invariably, are we led back to the
influences of a mother, to find the germ that has sprouted in the offspring.

The reader will excuse this interruption of narrative, and be told that
Mrs. Smith ^ was a woman of strong uncultivated intellect; artful and cunning;
imbued with an illy regulated religious enthusiasm. The incipient hints, the
first givings out that a Prophet was to spring from her humble household,
came from her^; and when matters were maturing for denouement, she gave
out that such and such ones — always fixing upon those who had both money
and credulity — were to be instruments in some great work of new revelation.
The old man was rather her faithful co-worker, or executive exponent. Their
son, Alvah [Alvin], was originally intended, or designated, by fireside
consultations, and solemn and mysterious out door hints, as the forth coming
Prophet. The mother and the father said he was the chosen one; but Alvah,
however spiritual he may have been, had a carnal appetite; ate too many
green turnips, sickened and died.^ Thus the world lost a Prophet, and

5. On Joseph Smith Sr.’s Universalism, see ILB.2, TUNBRIDGE
(VT) UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY, 6 DEC 1797; and LD.2, WILLIAM
SMITH NOTES, CIRCA 1875, 28-29.

6. See, for example, IILL.19, NATHAN PIERCE DOCKET BOOK,

1830.

7. On Lucy Smith (1775-1856), see “Introduction to Lucy Smith Col¬
lection.”

8. Compare IILJ.37, WALLACE MINER REMINISCENCE, 1932.

9. Because Alvin’s death occurred on 19 November 1823 after
Turner’s departure from the area. Turner must have learned this detail from
subsequent visits to the area. Note that Turner neglects to mention Alvin’s

ORSAMUS TURNER ACCOUNT, 1851

Mormonism a leader; the designs impiously and wickedly attributed to
Providence, defeated; and all in consequence of a surfeit of raw turnips. Who
will talk of the cackling geese of Rome, or any other small and innocent
causes of mighty events, after this? The mantle of the Prophet which Mrs.
and Mr. Joseph Smith and one Oliver Cowdery,^^ had wove of themselves —
every thread of it — fell upon their next eldest son, Joseph Smith, Jr.

And a most unpromising recipient of such a trust, was this same Joseph
Smith, Jr., afterwards, “Jo. Smith.” He was lounging, idle; (not to say
vicious,) and possessed of less than ordinary intellect. The author’s own
recollections of him are distinct ones. He used to come into the village of
Palmyra with little jags of wood, from his backwoods home; sometimes
patronizing a village grocery too freely; sometimes find an odd job to do
about [p. 213] the store of Seymour Scovell^^; and once a week he would
stroll into the office of the old Palmyra Register, for his father’s paper. How
impious, in us young “dare DeviW^^ to once and a while blacken the face of
the then meddling inquisitive lounger — but afterwards Prophet, with the old
fashioned balls, when he used to put himself in the way of the working of
the old fashioned Ramage press! The editor of the Cultivator, at Albany —
esteemed as he may justly consider himself, for his subsequent enterprize and
usefulness, may think of it, with contrition and repentance; that he once
helped, thus to disfigure the face of a Prophet, and remotely, the founder of
a State.

But Joseph had a little ambition; and some very laudable aspirations;
the mother’s intellect occasionally shone out in him feebly, especially when
he used to help us solve some portentous questions of moral or political
ethics, in our juvenile debating club, which we moved down to the old red

taking a lethal dose of calomel.

10. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

11. This statement contains two errors. First, Oliver Cowdery had
nothing to do with Joseph Jr.’s prophetic mantle since the latter had received
revelations before the former’s arrival. Second, Hyrum Smith was the next
oldest son of the Smiths, and Joseph Jr. the third.

12. Seymour ScoviUe was a Palmyra merchant described as “a promi¬
nent and influential man” (see McIntosh 1877, 141; T. Cook 1930, 73; origi¬
nal Land Indenture, dated 25 April 1816, for Palmyra Lots 12 and 26,

Palmyra King’s Daughters Free Library, Palmyra, New York).

13. Footnote in original reads: “To soften the use of such an expres¬
sion, the reader should be reminded that apprentices in printing offices have
since the days of Faust and Gottenberg, been thus called, and sometimes it
was not inappropriate.”

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

school house on Durfee street, to get rid of the annoyance of critics that used
to drop in upon us in the village^"^; and subsequently, after catching a spark
of Methodism in the camp meeting, away down in the woods, on the Vienna
road, he was a very passable exhorter in evening meetings/

Legends of hidden treasure, had long designated Mormon Hill as the
depository. Old Joseph had dug there, and young Joseph had not only heard
his father and mother relate the marvelous tales of buried wealth, but had
accompanied his father in the midnight delvings, and incantations of the
spirits that guarded it.

If a buried revelation was to be exhumed, how natural was it that the
Smith family, with their credulity, and their assumed presentiment that a
Prophet was to come from their household, should be connected with it;
and that Mormon Hill was the place where it would be found.

It is believed by those who were best acquainted with the Smith family,
and most conversant with all the Gold Bible movements, that there is no
foundation for the statement that their original manuscript was written by a
Mr. Spaulding, of Ohio.^^ A supplement to the Gold Bible, “The Book of
Commandments” in all probability, was written by [Sidney] Rigdon,^^ and
he may have been aided by Spaulding’s manuscripts; but the book itself is

14. Turner’s reference to the “juvenile debating club” is confirmed by
periodic newspaper notices to “the young people of the village of Palmyra
and its vicinity” inviting attendance at “a debating school at the school house
near Mr. [Benjamin] Billings’” (see Western Farmer, 23 January 1822; Palmyra
Herald, 26 February 1823; see also R. L. Anderson 1969a, 379). But when
the debating club began or was moved to the school house cannot be deter¬
mined. Turner’s use of “us” indicates that Smith was likely involved with the
debating club before the former’s departure from the area in 1822.

15. “Camp meeting” is “a technical term from that period, meaning
extended preaching in a rural setting, ordinarily by several ministers of vari¬
ous ranks” (R. L. Anderson 1969a, 379). “Vienna road” refers to the road
running between the villages of Palmyra and Vienna (now Phelps). The
Methodists did not acquire their property in the woods on the Vienna Road
until July 1821 (see Walters 1969a, 99). A Methodist “exhorter” followed the
minister’s sermon, reemphasizing its message and exhorting the people to fol¬
low its teaching. Joseph Smith could not have been a licensed exhorter since
membership was a prerequisite. Turner likely refers to Smith’s involvement
with the Methodists during the 1824-25 revival in Palmyra. Regarding
Smith’s early interest in Methodism, see LA. 15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, 2; and IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 18.

16. On the Spaulding theory, see Bush 1977.

17. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to LA.13, SID¬
NEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

ORSAMUS TURNER ACCOUNT, 1851

without doubt, a production of the Smith family, aided by Oliver Cowdery,
who was a school teacher on Stafford street, an intimate of the Smith family,
and identified with the whole matter. The production as all will conclude,
who have read it, or even given it a cursory review, is not that of an educated
man or woman. The bungling attempt to counterfeit the style of the
Scriptures; the intermixture of modern phraseology; the ignorance of chro¬
nology and geography; its utter crudeness and baldness, as a whole, stamp its
character, and clearly exhibits its vulgar origin. It is a strange medley of
scriptures, romance, and bad composition.

The primitive designs of Mrs. Smith, her husband, Jo and Cowdery,
was money-making; blended with which perhaps, was a desire for noto¬
riety, to be obtained by a cheat and a fraud. The idea of being the founders
of a new sect, was an after thought, in which they were aided by others,
[p. 214]

The projectors of the humbug, being destitute of means for carrying
out their plans, a victim was selected to obviate that difficulty. Martin
Harris, was a farmer of Palmyra, the owner of a good farm, and an honest
worthy citizen; but especially given to religious enthusiasm, new creeds, the
more extravagant the better; a monomaniac, in fact. Joseph Smith upon
whom the mantle of prophecy had fallen after the sad fate of Alva [Alvin] ,
began to make demonstrations. He informed Harris of the great discovery,
and that it had been revealed to him, that he (Harris,) was a chosen instrument
to aid in the great work of surprising the world with a new revelation. They
had hit upon the right man. He mortgaged his fine farm to pay for printing
the book,^ assumed a grave, mysterious, and unearthly deportment, and
made here and there among his acquaintances solemn annunciations of the
great event that was transpiring. His version of the discovery, as communi¬
cated to him by the Prophet Joseph himself, is well remembered by several
respectable citizens of Palmyra, to whom he made early disclosures. It was
in substance, as follows:

The Prophet Joseph, was directed by an angel where to find, by
excavation, at the place afterwards called Mormon HiU, the gold plates; and
was compelled by the angel, much against his will, to be the interpreter of
the sacred record they contained, and publish it to the world. That the plates
contained a record of the ancient inhabitants of this country, “engraved by
Mormon, the son of Nephi.” That on the top of the box containing the

18. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

19. See III.L.14, MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829.

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

plates, “a pair of large spectacles were found, the stones or glass set in which
were opaque to all but the Prophet,” that “these belonged to Mormon, the
engraver of the plates, and without them, the plates could not be read.”
Harris assumed, that himself and Cowdery were the chosen amanuenses, and
that the Prophet Joseph, curtained from the world and them, with his
spectacles, read from the gold plates what they committed to paper. Harris
exhibited to an informant of the author, the manuscript title page. On it
were drawn, rudely and bunglingly, concentric circles, between above and
below which were characters, with little resemblance to letters; apparently
a miserable imitation of hieroglpyphics, the writer may have somewhere
seen.^^ To guard against profane curiosity, the Prophet had given out that
no one but himself, not even his chosen co-operators, must be permitted to
see them, on pain of instant death. Harris had never seen the plates, but the
growing account of their massive richness excited other than spiritual hopes,
and he upon one occasion, got a village silver-smith to help him estimate
their value; taking as a basis, the Prophet’s account of their dimensions. It
was a blending of the spiritual and utilitarian, that threw a shadow of doubt
upon Martin’s sincerity. This, and some anticipations he indulged in, as to
the profits that would arise from the sale of the Gold Bible, made it then, as
it is now, a mooted question, whether he was altogether a dupe.

The wife of Harris was a rank infidel and heretic, touching the whole
thing, and decidedly opposed to her husband’s participation in it. With
sacriligious hands, she seized over an hundred of the manuscript pages of the
new revelation, and burned or secreted them.^^ It was agreed by the Smith
family, Cowdery and Harris, not to transcribe these again, but to let so much
of the new revelation drop out, as the “evil spirit would get up a story that
the second translation did not agree with the first.” A very ingenious method,
surely, of guarding against the possibility that Mrs. Harris had preserved the
[p. 215] manuscript with which they might be confronted, should they
attempt an imitation of their own miserable patchwork.

The Prophet did not get his lesson well upon the start, or the household
of impostors were in the fault. After he had told his story, in his absence, the
rest of the family made a new version of it to one of their neighbors. They

20. Compare the description of Book of Mormon characters in V.D.2,
CHARLES ANTHON TO E. D. HOWE, 17 FEB 1834; and V.D.3,
CHARLES ANTHON TO THOMAS WINTHROP COIT, 3 APR 1841;
see also V.E.2, BOOK OF MORMON CHARACTERS, DEC 1827-FEB
1828.

21. See discussion in introduction to III. L. 16, BOOK OF MOR¬
MON PREFACE, 1829.

ORSAMUS TURNER ACCOUNT, 1851

shewed him such a pebble as may any day be picked up on the shore of Lake
Ontario — the common horn blend — carefully wrapped in cotton, and kept
in a mysterious box. They said it was by looking at this stone, in a hat, the
light excluded, that Joseph discovered the plates. This it will be observed,
differs materially from Joseph’s story of the angel. It was the same stone the
Smiths’ had used in money digging, and in some pretended discoveries of
stolen property.

Long before the Gold Bible demonstration, the Smith family had with
some sinister object in view, whispered another fraud in the ears of the
credulous. They pretended that in digging for money, at Mormon Hill, they
came across “a chest, three by two feet in size, covered with a dark colored
stone. In the centre of the stone was a white spot about the size of a sixpence.
Enlarging, the spot increased to the size of a twenty four pound shot and
then exploded with a terrible noise. The chest vanished and all was utter
darkness.”

It may be safely presumed that in no other instance have Prophets and
the chosen and designated of angels, been quite as calculating and worldly as
were those of Stafford street, Mormon Hill, and Palmyra. The only business
contract — veritable instrument in writing, that was ever executed by spiritual
agents, has been preserved, and should be among the archives of the new
state of Utah. It is signed by the Prophet Joseph himself, and witnessed by
Oliver Cowdery, and secures to Martin Harris one half of the proceeds of
the sale of the Gold Bible until he was fully reimbursed in the sum of $2,500,
the cost of printing.^^

The after thought that has been alluded to; the enlarging of original
intentions; was at the suggestion of Sidney Rigdon, of Ohio, who made his
appearance, and blended himself with the poorly devised scheme of impos¬
ture about the time the book was issued from the press. He unworthily bore
the title of a Baptist elder, but had by some previous freak, if the author is
rightly informed, forfeited his standing with that respectable religious de¬
nomination. Designing, ambitious, and dishonest, under the semblance of
sanctity and assumed spirituality, he was just the man for the uses of the Smith
household and their half dupe and half designing abettors; and they were just
the fit instruments he desired. ... [p. 216] ...

Under the auspices of Rigdon, a new sect, the Mormons, was pro¬
jected, prophecies fell thick and fast from the lips of Joseph; old Mrs. Smith
assumed all the airs of the mother of a Prophet; that particular family of Smiths

22. See III.L.l?, JOSEPH SMITH, SR., AND MARTIN HARRIS
AGILEEMENT, 16 JAN 1830.

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

were singled out and became exalted above all their legion of namesakes.
The bald, clumsy cheat, found here and there an enthusiast, a monomaniac
or a knave, in and around its primitive locality, to help it upon its start; and
soon, like another scheme of imposture, (that had a little of dignity and
plausibility in it,) it had its Elegira, or flight, to Kirtland; then to Nauvo[o];
then to a short resting place in Missouri — and then on over the Rocky
Mountains to Utah, or the Salt Lake. ...

DR. WILLIAMS ACCOUNT, 1854

Robert Richards [pseud.], The Californian Crusoe; or, The Lost Treasure Found.
A Tale of Mormonism (London: John Henry Parker, 1854), 121-25.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Published under the pseudonym Robert Richards, The Californian
Crusoe is a satirical account of the Mormons in Utah from the point of view
of someone not well informed. The present excerpt is an interview between
the author and a Dr. Williams, who was passing through Salt Lake City and
claimed to have been a physician at Palmyra, New York, while the Smiths
were there. Although there were several Williams families in Palmyra, Dr.
Williams has yet to be identified. Concerning the circumstances of his
interview with Williams, the author states:

... A party of travellers from the east, on their way to California, arrived
among us in the middle of the summer, half-dead with fatigue and misery
attendant on an overland journey from St. Louis of more than twelve
hundred miles. They were evidently persons of education, and many of
the Mormons did their best to shew them kindness and hospitality. One
of their number, a Dr. Williams, became my guest, and remained with me
for more than a month. When he was able to look around him, I shewed
him something of the neighborhood. I took him to the new temple, then
surrounded with scaffolding; I pointed out to him the situation of our most
productive land; I gave him a bath in our hot sulphur springs; I led him
down to the Salt Lake and its heavy waters glittering in the sun with saline
crystals. By the help of a map lately executed by a Mormon surveyor, I
indicated to him the situation of our settlements, already extending
through above a hundred miles. I explained our political arrangements,
and, in reply to his enquiries, made a few statements relative to our religion.

The Doctor looked grave, and after a short silence proceeded to tell me
that if I would not take it amiss, he had it in his power to give me some
particulars as to the early origin of Mormonism, with which perhaps, as an
Englishman, I was not altogether acquainted. I expressed an eager desire to
hear him, and he proceeded as follows. ...

I am a native of Vermont, but more recently I [p. 121] have lived in
the town of Palmyra, in the western part of New York, where, in fact, I

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

commenced my practice as a physician. Here I accidentally became ac¬
quainted with Joseph Smith, your late prophet, and learned various particu¬
lars respecting his family; not because I was particularly interested in them,
but from the accidental circumstance of their having emigrated, about the
year 1815, from my own former neighbourhood in Vermont. At the time
when I first met with them near Palmyra, they were living in wretched
poverty, and, in fact, were hardly superior to common vagrants. The father,
old Joseph Smith, ^ was an irreligious and drunken feUow, and the mother
was little better than her husband. There were seven children; and when I
first met with your prophet, in 1825, he was about twenty years of age, and
notorious, like others of his family, as a money-digger, and withal as a drunken,
lying, and dissipated young profligate. His father used to say that Joseph had
power to look into the depths of the earth, and to discover where money
was concealed, by means of a curious stone which had accidentally come
into his possession. Many credulous persons hired him to make excavations,
but I never heard that anything really valuable was ever discovered by him.
Joseph, or Joe, as he was commonly called, managed very early to become
a proficient in the art of imposing on simplicity, and cheating became to him,
by practice, a kind of second nature. ... [p. 122]

...^ In 1830, one [Egbert B.] Grandin,^ a printer at Palmyra, with
whom I was well acquainted, published the first edition of the Book of
Mormon, purporting to be “By Joseph Smith, junior. Author and Pro¬
prietor.” Five thousand copies were executed by Grandin, as he himself
told me, for the sum of three thousand dollars. This money was supplied
by one Martin Harris,"^ a [p. 123] farmer, who had acted as Smiths amanu¬
ensis, and on whose credulity as well as avarice the prophet had operated
with effect.

In order to make the book sell, Joseph told a story similar to what you
have doubtless heard him tell at Nauvoo, and which he concocted while
preparing his manuscript for the press. He declared that an angel had directed
him to dig in a hill, from which he disinterred a book of golden plates with
inscriptions, which he was supernaturally enabled to translate into English.

1. On Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

2. Williams’s rehearsal of the Spaulding theory has been deleted (see
Bush 1977).

3. On Egbert B. Grandin (1806-45), see I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 77.

4. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

DR. WILLIAMS ACCOUNT, 1854

Two other persons, [Oliver] Cowdery^ and [David] Whitmer,^ were after¬
wards engaged in the scheme, who, together with Harris, actually signed a
certificate, appended, as you know, to the Book of Mormon, in which they
declared that an angel of God had descended from heaven, and laid before
their eyes the golden plates with the mystic engravings.^ Although Smith had
originally declared that it was revealed to him, that only the above three
persons were to behold the precious book, the certificates of eight others, to
the same effect, were afterwards annexed. These supplementary eight were
the prophet’s unprincipled father, two of his brothers, Hyrum and Samuel,
and four brothers of the Whitmer who signed the original certificate.^ All of
the eleven were deeply interested in the success of the imposture, and
expected to make their fortune by it. Five of them, as you are probably aware,
including Hyrum^ and Samuel Smith, have died in the profession of
Mormonism; but all the rest, including even Martin [p. 124] Harris himself,
have abandoned the sect, and become its avowed enemies.

On the 6th of April, 1830, the first Mormon congregation was founded
at Manchester, not far from Palmyra.^^ It consisted at first of only six persons,
viz. the prophet, his father, and his two brothers named above, Oliver
Cowdery, and Joseph Knight. These men began to propagate their religion,
in the first instance, as a means of selling their book, making truth entirely
subordinate to the love of gain. In Manchester and Palmyra, where their
characters were only too well known, they found it impossible to gather any
number of converts. But, by adopting a system of itinerancy, they had sold
several hundred books, and made about eighty dupes, before the following

5. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow¬
dery Collection.”

6. On David Whitmer (1805-88), see “Introduction to David Whit¬
mer Collection.”

7. See VI.G.l, TESTIMONY OF THILEE WITNESSES, JUN 1829.

8. See IILL.13, TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES, JUN 1829.

9. On Hyrum Smith (1800-44), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 12.

10. On Samuel Harrison Smith (1808-44), see LA.15, JOSEPH
SMITH HISTORY, 1839, n. 13.

11. On the location of the church’s organization, see LA.15, JOSEPH
SMITH HISTORY, 1839, n. 82.

12. This list is inaccurate (see discussion in introduction to IV.A.4,
JOSEPH KNIGHT, JR., STATEMENT, 11 AUG 1862). On Joseph
Knight, Sr. (1772-1847), who did not become a member until 28 June 1830,
see introduction to IV.A.l, JOSEPH KNIGHT, SR., REMINISCENCE,
CIRCA 1835-1847.

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

October. Smith’s ideas expanded in proportion to his success, and he now
appeared, not merely as a book-pedlar and a translator of a revelation, but as
an inspired prophet himself. In your “Book of Doctrine and Covenants” you
will find, that among his first revelations were those which command his
disciples to build him a house, and “to provide him with food and raiment,
and whatsoever he needeth [D&C 43:13].”

In the autumn of 1830, four of Smith’s emissaries began to preach at
Kirtland, in Ohio,^^ where they were openly joined by Elder [Sidney]
Rigdon^"^ and many of his flock, whom he had collected while a Baptist
preacher. Rigdon was a much abler man than Joseph, and Mormonism, as
you knew it in Nauvoo, began to take a definite shape. In January 1831, [p.
125] Smith and his family, with a number of proselytes, removed to Kirtland,
which for some time was the centre of Mormon operations. ...

13. See III.L.22, MISSIONARIES COVENANT, 17 OCT 1830.

14. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to I. A. 13, SID¬
NEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

MANCHESTER fLESIDENT REMINISCENCE,
8 August 1856

“Mormonism in Its Infancy,” Newark (New Jersey) Daily Advertiser, Circa
August 1856, Charles Woodward Scrapbook, New York Public Library,
New York, New York (Woodward 1880, 1:125).

EDITORIAL NOTE

This newspaper clipping features an anonymously written letter from
Manchester, New York. The letter, signed “Ashes,” is dated 8 August, with
the year “1856” written on the clipping. The writer, who obviously had
before him Orsamus Turner’s 1851 account (compare III.J.2, ORSAMUS
TURNER ACCOUNT, 1851), claimed that the information had been
“related to me by an old gentleman who was cognizant of the whole affair,
being a neighbor to them.” While Turner had died in 1855, one might
speculate that the writer had previously spoken with Turner about Mormon-
ism but referred to his book to reconstruct their conversation. Otherwise it
is a fictional account.

MANCHESTER, ONTARIO CO., N.Y.,
AUG. 8. [1856?]

It is not generally known that this country was the birth-place of
Mormonism, and the starting point of those God forsaken doctrines, which
have since spread themselves over Christendom, carrying desolation to
thousands of happy families, destroying the pleasure of social circles, and
putting out the light on many a hearthstone: for what reason this beautiful
section of Western New York was cursed with this foul stigma, its inhabitants
are totally unaware; and to their credit be it said, that the prophet had no
honor in his own country, but was compelled, with very few exceptions, to
go from home to find his followers. Having been quite interested in the
history of the SMITH FAMILY, and the finding of the Gold Bible, as related
to me by an old gentleman who was cognizant of the whole affair, being a
neighbor to them. I have written out a few of the principal points.

Joseph Smith, father of the Prophet, came from Merrimac River, N.H.,
and first settled in Palmyra, but in 1819 removed to this place. He was a
Methodist; but had formerly been a Universalist, and was quite an adept at

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

Scriptural arguments. Credulity seems to have been a pretty large ingredient
in his composition, as he was a great digger, always seeing “sights;” but never
realizing his expectations, he was noted for his indolence, and for generally
being in some difficulty with his neighbors. Joe’s mother was a far different
person from his father: she is described as a woman of strong uncultivated
intellect, artful and cunning, and strongly imbued with an illy regulated
religious enthusiasm, and much given to vague visions of riches and greatness.
As is usually the case, she had much more to do with forming the character
of the son than his father, though he had more of the atrocities of the latter,
so far as his habits were concerned. Mrs. Smith seems to have been the head
and front of the movement; she it was who first gave vague hints that a
prophet was to arise from her humble household, and as arrangements
progressed towards a consummation, she named those who had been fixed
upon as instruments to assist them in getting out the new revelations — always
selecting men who were noted for their credulity. In these affairs her husband
assisted, and was her executive officer.

ALVAH [Alvin] , the eldest son, was originally intended for the prophet,
but alas for all human designs, “the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak;”
and one day, ALVAH being rather hungry, he indulged too freely in raw
turnips, sickened and died; so the incipient prophet was lost to the world
and to Mormonism. Joe Smith thereby became a great man, for it was
immediately given out that the mantle of Alvah [Alvin] had fallen upon him,
unworthy though he was — for rumor says he was as lazy as his father, rather
intemperate in his habits, and possessed of less than ordinary intellect. He
had previously professed religion at a camp meeting, and was quite an
exhorter at evening meetings; but this did not last long. “Mormon Hill” had
been long designated “as the place in which countless treasures were buried;”
Joseph, the elder, had “spaded” up many a foot of the hill side to find them,
and Joseph Jr., had on more than one occasion accompanied him. Taking
all these circumstances together, how perfectly natural was it for the Smith
family to be selected as the means of finding, and Mormon Hill as the
repository of the long buried revelation, known as the “Goli Bible.'’

It has been generally believed that this celebrated book was written by
Mr. Spaulding, of Ohio, but for this belief there is no foundation; the original
production undoubtedly emanated jointly from the Smith family, and a
schoolmaster of this village by the name of OLIVER COWDERY, who
was intimately connected with the Smiths in all their movements. Any one
by observation can be convinced that the author must have been uneducated,
and totally ignorant of Geography and Chronology. An imitation of the style
of the Scripture is attempted, but the expression, “and it came to pass,” is

MANCHESTER RESIDENT REMINISCENCE, 1856

about the only approach to it. Modern sayings are curiously interspersed with
ancient language, and taking it altogether, no one can doubt its vulgar origin.

The original design of the movers was undoubtedly to make money
and to gain a certain notoriety, of which, as we have said, Mrs. Smith had
often had visions, and they had no idea at this time of founding a sect. Joe
Smith has himself said as much. As soon as the Bible had been discovered
Joe commenced to prophesy and to name individuals who were, as he said,
called of God, as chosen instruments to assist him in the translating, &c., of
the revelation. The most noted of their assistants was MARTIN HARRIS,
a respectable and honest farmer residing at Palmyra — much given to new
creeds, and a monomaniac upon the subject of “spiritual manifestations.’’ He
mortgaged his farm to pay for the printing of the Gold Bible, but a contract
signed by JOSEPH, and witnessed by COWDERY, secure to Harris and his
heirs one half the proceeds of the sale of the Gold Bible, until he was
reimbursed in the sum of $2500 — the cost of printing. This, together with
the fact that Harris had procured the services of a village jeweler to help him
estimate the value of the plates, taking as a basis Joe Smith’s description, leaves
us in doubt as to whether he was altogether a dupe.

The Prophet’s account of finding these plates was — that an angel
appeared, and directed him where to dig; he was then compelled, against his
will, to interpret them, and promulgate their contents to the world; that on
the plates were the names of the ancient residents in this country, “engraved
by Mormon the son of Nephi;” that in the box containing them was “a large
pair of spectacles, the stone or glass set in them being opaque to all but the
prophet;” that “these belonged to Mormon the engraver, and that the plates
could not be read without them.” Harris was the principal amanuensis, and
having nearly a hundred pages of the manuscript translation in his house, his
wife, who was an unbeliever, seized them, and either burned or secreted
them — it was supposed the former — ^but for fear that she should confront
them with the lost documents at some future day, the Smiths, Cowdery and
Harris, agreed not to translate these again, but to let so much of the new
revelation drop out, lest “the evil spirit should get up a story that the second
translation did not agree with the first.” ...

Yours,

ASHES.

POMEROY Tucker Reminiscence, 1858

1. “Mormonism and Joe Smith. The Book of Mormon or Golden
Bible/’ Wayne Democratic Press (Lyons, New York) 3 (26 May 1858).
Reprinted in Troy Times, 27 May 1858; Albany Evening Journal, 29
May 1858; Palmyra Courier, 11 June 1858; and New York Herald, 2
July 1858 (see also clipping in Woodward 1880, 1:265).

2. “The Mormon Imposture — The Mormon Aborigines,” Wayne
Democratic Press (Lyons, New York) 3 (2 June 1858): 2.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Pomeroy Tucker (1802-70) was born at Palmyra, New York. He began
his printing apprenticeship under Timothy C. Strong of the Palmyra Pjegister
about 1820 (Turner 1851, 499). In the fall of 1823, Tucker and Egbert B.
Grandin purchased Strong’s press and began publishing the Wayne Sentinel.
For the next thirty years. Tucker helped publish this paper. During the
printing of the Book of Mormon, Tucker often read proofs of the text. He
served in various civic positions, including one term in the state legislature
and as post master of Palmyra (1839-41). He was an early member of
Palmyra’s Mount Moriah Masonic Lodge (see IILL.9, PALMYILA [NY]
MASONIC RECORDS, 1827-1828). In 1867 Tucker published a book-
length history of Mormonism, which included some reminiscences of his
own about Mormon origins (see IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867). Tucker died at Palmyra (Pattengill 1870, 4-9; McIntosh
1877, 43; T. Cook 1930, 283, 306).

Both the Palmyra Courier and Troy Times identify the author of the first
article reprinted below as Pomeroy Tucker. The occasion of Tucker’s
writing is explained by the Courier. “A question having arose between the
Albany Journal and Troy Times, as regards the place where the Mormon
Bible was printed, Mr. POMEROY TUCKER, of this village, furnished
the Wayne Democratic Press, with the following facts. ...” In his response.
Tucker joined the Troy Times in correcting Thurlow Weed, editor of the
Albany Evening Journal, who claimed that Elihu F. Marshall of Rochester,
New York, had published the Book of Mormon (cf IILK.17, THURLOW
WEED ILEMINISCENCES, 1854, 1858, 1880 & 1884).

’Hill Cumorah,” a view of its northern summit, 1920. Used by permission,
Utah State Historical Society, all rights reserved.

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

Tucker’s second article continues the subject of Mormon origins in the
Palmyra/Manchester area. This article was evidently expanded and incorpo¬
rated in Tucker’s 1867 book (cf IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867). Both articles first appeared in the Wayne Democratic Press,
which was edited by William Van Camp at Lyons, New York.

[1. 26 May 1858]

The story of the printing of the first edition of the “Book of Mormon”
is truthfully as follows: Joe Smith, the pretended Prophet and finder of the
original “metallic records” — Oliver Cowdery,^ amanuensis of Smith — and
Martin Harris,^ the “chosen” dupe for the payment of expenses — constituting,
as they claimed, the “inspired” nucleus of the dawning “Church of Latter Day
Saints” — applied about the month of June, 1829,^ to Mr. Egbert B. Grandin,"^
the then publisher of the Wayne Sentinel newspaper and a job printer at
Palmyra, for the printing of the book referred to, commonly called the
“Golden Bible.” Harris, who was a forehanded farmer at that town — an
honest and respected citizen, but noted for his superstitious and fanatical
peculiarities in religious matters — ^was the only man of the party whose
pecuniary responsibility was worth a dollar; and he offered to give security by
a mortgage upon his unincumbered farm for the cost of the printing and
binding of the book. Grandin at once advised them against the supposed foUy
of the enterprise, and with the aid of other neighbors and friends of Harris
sought to influence the latter to desist and withdraw his countenance from
the imposture. All importunity of this kind, however, was resisted with
determination by Harris, (who no doubt firmly believed in the genuineness
of Smith’s pretensions,) and resented with assumed pious indignation by
Smith. Cowdery took but little part in the conversations. After repeated
interviews and much parleying on the subject, Grandin was understood to
refuse to give it further consideration. Harris, it was thought, became for a
time somewhat staggered in his confidence, but Joe could do nothing in the

1. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow¬
dery Collection.”

2. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

3. Compare III.H.IO, JOHN H. GILBERT MEMORANDUM, 8
SEP 1892, 1; see also LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 34; and
LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:102-4.

4. On Egbert B. Grandin (1806-45), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 77.

POMEROY TUCKER REMINISCENCE, 1858

matter of printing without his aid, and so he persevered in his seductive arts,
as will be seen with ultimate success.

About this time, in the fore part of the year 1829, (as recollected,) the
same party, or a portion of them applied to Mr. [Thurlow] Weed,^ of the
Anti-Masonic Inquirer at Rochester, (who by the way, seems in his remi¬
niscence to have confused Mormonism with Anti-Masonry,) and there met
a similar repulse, as stated by the Journal. Mr. [Elihu F.] Marshall,^ of Spelling
Book notoriety, who was also engaged in the printing and publishing business
at Rochester, gave his terms to Smith and his associates for the execution of
their work, and his proffered acceptance of the proposed mode of security.

The “Saints” then returned and renewed their request to Mr. Grandin,
assuring him that the printing was to be done at any rate, and explaining that
they would be saved much inconvenience and cost of travel, (as the
manuscripts were to be delivered and the proof sheets examined daily at the
printing office,) by having their work done at Palmyra, where they resided.
It was upon this state of facts and view of the case, that Mr. Grandin, after
some further hesitation, reconsidered his policy of refusal, and finally entered
into a contract for the desired printing and binding of 5,000 copies of the
book, for the price of $3,000, to be secured by mortgage as proposed^; which
contract was faithfully performed on his part, completing the work in the
summer of 1830, and as faithfully fulfilled in the payment by Harris. Major
Gilbert,^ as stated by the Troy Times, took the foremanship of the printing,
and did most of the press and composition work of the job. He still retains
an original copy of the book in sheets as he laid them oflf in a file from the

5. On Thurlow Weed (1797-1882), see introduction to III.K.17,
THURLOW WEED ITEMINISCENCES, 1854, 1858, 1880 & 1884.

6. Elihu F. Marshall, in his forties, is listed in the 1840 census of Roch¬
ester, Monroe County, New York (1840:312). He married Mary May in
Rochester on 1 September 1827 {Wayne Sentinel, 14 September 1827). He
was a Quaker and evidently associated with Peter Harris, Martin Harris’s
brother-in-law (W. F. Peck 1884, 261). Marshall was a bookseller and pub¬
lisher of the Rochester Album (see Rochester City Directory, 1827). He was also
well-known for his spelling book, which he first published in Bellows Falls,
New York, in 1819, and subsequently in Rochester. Joseph Smith and Mar¬
tin Harris may have been familiar with Marshall’s 1829 edition: Marshall's
Spelling Book of the English Language; or. The Teacher's Assistant (1st rev. ed.;
Rochester, New York: Marshall, Dean & Co., 1829), which was advertised
in the Wayne Sentinel (15 May 1829).

7. See III.L.14, MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829.

8. On John H. Gilbert (1802-95), see “Introduction to John H. Gil¬
bert Collection.”

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

press in working. The manuscripts, in Cowdery’s handwriting, were carried
to the printing office in daily instalments, generally by Joe or his trusty
brother Hiram, and were regularly withdrawn for security and preservation
at evening.^ The pretension was that they were written out by the amanuensis
Cowdery from translations verbally given by the Prophet Joe, who alone was
enabled to read the hieroglyphics of the sacred plates by means of a wonderful
stone and magic spectacles that were found in the earth with the “records.”
In the performance of this task the “chosen” decypherer was always con¬
cealed in a dark room, and by special revelation neither Cowdery or other
persons than the said “chosen” was permitted to see the plates on penalty of
instant death. Such was the pretension. The hand press which did the printing
(Smith’s patent) has been in continual use [in the Sentinel offtce]^^ since that
important era in the rise of Mormonism, and in the course of changes of
ownership and partizan apostacy, it has finally in its degeneracy (quite
appropriately) now come to be used for the printing of a Know Nothing
newspaper!

A word in regard to the origin of Mormonism, whose advent has
furnished so marked an illustration of the susceptibilities of human credulity
even at the present age of boasted enlightenment, may not be without interest
in this connection, now after the lapse of some thirty years. As early as 1820,
Joe Smith, at the age of about 19 years, began to assume the gift of
supernatural endowments, and became the leader of a small party of shiftless
men and boys like himself who engaged in nocturnal money-digging
operations upon the hills in and about Palmyra. These labors were always
performed in the night, and during their continuance, many marvellous
accounts and rumors in regard to them were put afloat in the neighborhood.
Joe professed from time to time to have “almost” secured the hidden treasure,
which, however, just at the instant of attempting to grasp it, would vanish
by the breaking of the spell of his magic power. — Numbers of men and
women, as was understood, were found credulous enough to believe “there
might be something in it,” who were induced by their confidence and
cupidity to contribute privately towards the cost, of carrying on the impos-

9. See III.H.IO, JOHN H. GILBERT MEMOPJVNDUM, 8 SEP
1892, 2.

10. Bracketed material in original.

11. Smith was fourteen in 1820, not nineteen (compare IILJ.8,
POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 19, 21-22, 26). Other testi¬
mony indicates that the Smiths were involved in treasure seeking in 1820,
but not necessarily as leaders (see, e.g., IILA.14, WILLARD CHASE
STATEMENT, CIRCA 11 DEC 1833, 240).

POMEROY TUCKER REMINISCENCE, 1858

ture, under the promise of sharing in the expected gains; and in this way the
loaferly but cunning Smith, who was too lazy to work for his living, (his
deluded followers did all the digging,) was enabled to obtain a scanty
subsistence for himself without pursuing any useful employment.

The silly imposture was persevered in by Smith, and the digging
performances occasionally continued by his gang without success, for some
eight or ten years, when in 1828 or ’29 the climax was reached in the
discovery of the wonderful golden record in hieroglyphics, of great antiquity,
“written by the hand of Mormon upon plates taken from the plates of
Nephi,” the translation ndd [and] publication of which are the foundation
of Brigham Young’s polygamous empire at Salt Lake, were, according to the
published testimony of Joe Smith, “found in the township of Manchester,
Ontario county, New York.” ...^“

[2. 2 June 1858]

It is believed there has never been published a particular and con¬
nected biography or description of the chief founders of the “Church of
Latter-Day Saints,” or as they may be fitly denominated, the Aborigenes
of Mormonism. ... It is presumed, therefore, that as a supplement to the
reminiscential sketch given in last week’s “Press,” the following additional
recollections on the subject may possess a compensating interest in meeting
public curiosity.

JOSEPH SMITH senior, with a family consisting of a wife and
eight children, including Joe the Prophet (as foreordained to be,) settled
upon a lot of mostly uncultivated land located on the northern border of
the town of Manchester, about two miles south of Palmyra village, (on
what is called Stafford Street,) in the year 1817 or ’18.^'^ They removed
there from the suburbs of said village, where they had resided since 1815,
having then emigrated to that place from Vermont. The title of the lot
was in non-resident minor heirs, uncared for by any local attorney or
agent, and Smith took possession of it only as a “squatter sovereign;”
though subsequently he purchased it by contract, paying little or nothing

12. Tucker’s brief discussion of the Spaulding theory, wherein he ar¬
gues that the “pretended translations of Smith were no doubt transcripts from
the Spaulding romance as altered for the occasion by Rigdon,” is here de¬
leted (see Bush 1977).

13. On Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

14. In his 1867 version. Tucker settled on the year 1818 (see IILJ.8,
POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 12).

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

thereon/^ The same premises are now embraced in the well cultivated
farm owned and occupied by Morgan Robinson. Smith’s children, in
the order of their ages, were Hyrum, (so spelled by his father,) Alvin,
Samuel H., Sophronm, Joseph junior, William, Catharine and Carlos. They
lived there for a number of years, in a small, smoky log hut, of their own
construction, which was divided into two rooms, with a garret. The age
of the junior Joe at that time was about 17 or 18, though he did not
know his own age, nor did any of the family remember it precisely. From
the oldest to the youngest, they were an illiterate, shiftless, indolent tribe,
without any visible means of a respectable livelihood, nor was it apparent
that they earned an honest living — ^young Joe being the laziest of the crew.
It was for this reason, in part perhaps, and also because of divers petty
thefts from time to time occurring in the neighborhood, that they were
so far under suspicion, (may be undeservedly,) as to suggest to the inhabi¬
tants the observance of especial vigilance in the care of their sheep yards,
smoke houses, pork barrels. See. The senior Smith and his elder boys (Joe
genererally [generally] excepted) did some work upon the land which they
occupied, in a slovenly, half-way manner, producing small crops or corn,
’Taters and garding sass,” which, added to Hmited operations in raising
pigs and poultry, with the making of maple sugar in the spring season,
contributed towards their necessary subsistence. Old Joe also gathered and
sold “rutes and yarbs” — occasionally exchanged a load of wood in the
village for tobacco, whiskey, or other notions of trade — and on training
and anniversary days, pocketed a few shillings from the peddling of gin¬
gerbread, boiled eggs, and root bear. The boys, who were frequently seen
lounging about the stores and shops in the village, were distinguished only
for their vagabondish appearance and loaferly habits. The female portion
of the household were pretty much ditto. The money digging humbug,
soon afterwards introduced, of which the junior Joe was the reputed in¬
ventor, was participated in more or less by all the male members of the
family.

Such were the character and circumstances of the Smith generation,
when young Joe’s money-digging experiment commenced, which after a
few years’ continuance grew to the magnitude of his miraculously discovered

15. Compare IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 13.

16. In his 1867 version. Tucker updated this statement to read: “the
well-organized farm of Mr. Seth T. Chapman” (see IILJ.8, POMEROY
TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 13). Morgan Robinson purchased the land
on 30 March 1855 and sold it to Absalom Weeks on 2 May 1859, who sold it
to Seth T. Chapman on 2 April 1860 (see Porter 1971, 357-58).

POMEROY TUCKER REMINISCENCE, 1858

golden “plates of Nephi” hidden in the earth by the hand of Mormon the
Israelite, resulting in the wonderful revelation and publication of the Mor¬
mon Bible. ...

JOE SMITH junior, who became the world-renowned translator of
the recovered Israelitish records or scriptures — the publisher of the new
revelation, in the Book of Mormon or Golden Bible, and founder of the
politico-religious institution of Mormonism — ^was, at the period referred to,
a dull-eyed, flaxen-haired, ragged boy. He was of taciturn habits — seldom
speaking unless first spoken to while out among folks — but apparently a
thinking, calculating, mischief-brewing genius, whose whole secretive mind
seemed devoted to some mysterious scheme or marvellous invention. In his
mental composition, the organ of “conscientiousness” might have been
marked by phrenologists as not there. His word, by reason of his propensity
for exaggeration, was never received with confidence by any body who knew
him, (excepting of course his bigotted dupes.) He was proverbially consid¬
ered by his neighbor co[n] temporaries “the meanest boy” of the family.
Subsequent developments and results, however, have demonstrated that he
knew “some things as well as others,” and that the hopping capacity of a toad
cannot be estimated by the length of its tail.

A single instance of the many anecdotes remembered, in connection
with Joe’s magic pretensions and undertakings, will sufficiently illustrate his
unprincipled cunning, and the strange infatuation of his dupes. — ^Assuming
his accustomed air of mystery, on one occasion, he pretended to know
exactly where the sought-for iron chest of gold was deposited in the earth;
and in order to secure the glittering prize, means must be contributed to pay
for digging, and a black sheep would also be required for a sacrifice before
engaging in the labors of the necromantic enterprise. Joe knew that his
neighbor S[tafford].,^^ one of his interested listeners — a respectable farmer in
good circumstances, now living — had a fine fat black wether, and that meat
was scarce at home. So it was agreed that the farmer should give the noble
wether as his share of the contribution; while others were to contribute their
labor, with a small sum of money. At the approach of the appointed hour at
night, the digging gang having been raUied and the black sheep provided,
Joe led his party with a lanthern [lantern] to the enchanted spot upon a hill
near his residence, where he described [inscribed?] a circle upon the ground,

17. Tucker later specifically identified William Stafford as the person
who provided the black sheep (see III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867, 24-25; cf III.A.13, WILLIAM STAFFORD STATE¬
MENT, 8 DEC 1833, 239).

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

within which the sacrifice was to be performed, and the prize exhumed. Not
a word was to be spoken during the entire performance. Such was the
programme. All things being ready, the throat of the animal was cut as
previously arranged, (the carcass withdrawn and reduced to mutton by the
Smiths,) and the excavation entered upon in good earnest by the expectant
diggers. For some three hours the work was continued in utter silence —
when, “tempted by the devil,” one of the party spoke! The spell was
broken — and the precious treasure, which was just within reach, vanished!

OLIVER COWDERY, the scribe or amanuensis employed by the
Prophet in the translation of the “sacred records,” was an unpretending young
man, of supposed fair character, who had done some service as a country
schoolmaster. He could write a legible hand, such as might be read by the
printers, by carefully dotting his i’s and crossing his t’s — an accomplishment
not possessed by any of the Smiths; but such spelling, punctuation, capital¬
izing and paragraphizing as his manuscripts exhibited, awfully multiplied the
perplexities of the type-setters. He is believed to have been a native of
Palmyra, as his father’s family resided there as early as 1810.^^ His present
whereabouts or destiny (unknown to the writer hereof) may not involve a
question of any moment, as his Mormon career was never distinguished
beyond his first connection with the speculation as already explained.

SIDNEY RIGDON^^ who furnished the literary contributions, and
MARTIN HARRIS who supplied the fiscal means for carrying forward the
imposture, were indispensable spokes in the great driving wheel of the
Mormon car. The former had been a clergyman of the Baptist persuasion in
Pennsylvania — had fallen from grace and been deposed from his clerical
estate — and he “understood the ropes” to be used in the infamous scheme
of deception. He was the first “messenger appointed of God,” (as he styled
himself,) to proclaim the Mormon revelation, and preached his first sermon
as such to a general public audience, in the room of the Palmyra Young
Men’s Association, in the third story of “Exchange Row,” in that village.
This was in the winter of 1830-’31 , soon after the Mormon book was printed.
The several churches had been applied to for the desecration of their pulpits,

18. This statement is inaccurate. Oliver Cowdery’s father, William,
moved to Williamson, Ontario County, New York, in 1810 (see 11. A. 2,
BARNES FRISBIE ACCOUNT, 1867, n. 8). However, the whereabouts of
Oliver Cowdery between the years 1810 and 1828, when he began teaching
school in Manchester, New York, is uncertain (see “Introduction to Oliver
Cowdery Collection”).

19. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to LA. 13, SID¬
NEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

POMEROY TUCKER REMINISCENCE, 1858

but were very properly refused. It was especially by the importunity of Harris,
whose sincerity was unquestioned, that the use of the Association’s room was
granted. Holding the Book of Mormon in his right hand, and the Holy Bible
in his left, the hardened impostor solemnly declared that both were equally
true as the word of God — that they were inseparably necessary to complete
the everlasting gospel — and that he himself was the called minister of Heaven
to proclaim the new revelation for the salvation of sinful man! The discourse
was a disgustingly blasphemous tirade, though evincing some talent and
ingenuity in the speaker, and was received with such manifestations of
disfavor that a repetition of the performance was never attempted there.

Up to this time, Rigdon had played his part behind the curtain. The
policy seems to have been to keep him in concealment until all things were
ready for the blowing of the Mormon trumpet. An unexpected birth
occurring in the Smith family, where Rigdon had been a frequent incog[nito].
visitor for a year or so, was said to have been accounted for only as a miracle!"^

MARTIN HARRIS was the son of Nathan Harris, now deceased,
an early settler in Palmyra, and was universally esteemed as an honest man.
He was a prosperous farmer, possessing a benevolent disposition, and good
judgment in ordinary business affairs. His mind was overbalanced by ‘‘mar¬
vellousness,” and was very much exercised on the subject of religion; and
his betrayal of vague superstitions, with a belief in “special providences,” and
in the terrest[r]ial visits of angels, ghosts, &c., brought upon him the
imputation of being “crazy.” He was possessed of a sort of Bible monomania,
and could probably repeat from memory every line of the scriptures, quoting
chapter and verse in each instance. His family consisted of a wife, (from
whom he was separated by mutual arrangement on account of her persistent
unbelief in Mormonism,) and one son and two daughters. The farm mort-

20. Regarding Rigdon’s December 1830 sermon in Palmyra, see also
III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 75-76; III.B.12,
LORENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884, 9; and III.B.14,
LORENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 20 SEP 1884, 5.

21. This alludes to the claim that Katharine Smith was pregnant by
Rigdon at the time the Smith family moved from New York to Ohio in the
spring of 1831 (compare III.J.5, POMEROY TUCKER REMINISCENCE,
1858; see also III.B.12, LORENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP
1884, 1; III.B.15, LOITENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 12 NOV 1884,
21; and III.D.3, CHRISTOPHER M. STAFFORD STATEMENT, 23
MAR 1885).

22. On Nathan Harris (1758-1835), see I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 50.

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

gaged and sacrificed by him in the printing speculation is the same now
owned and occupied by William Chapman, about a mile and a half north
of Palmyra village. — He long since abandoned Joe Smith and the Mormons,
though he bigotedly adheres to Mormonism, and obstinately refuses to
acknowledge his deception in the Bogus Bible. His present residence is in
some part of Ohio, and his condition that of extreme poverty.

Old Joe Smith, with his family, including the Prophet Joe (under whose
spiritual direction the profanity was perpetrated,) were baptized by Rigdon,
in the immersion form, into the Mormon “Church of Latter Day Saints,”
about the date last mentioned. And so also were Harris, Cowdery, the
Whitmers, and a number of other fanatical followers. “ — By “special reve¬
lation,” the senior Joe was ordained the first Patriarch and President of the
Church^^; and by like authority he was appointed to sell the Mormon Bible
at a fixed price, and appropriate a certain percentage of the proceeds to his
own use. This was a changed revelation, for in the first instance the
“command from above” was that Harris alone should be permitted to sell
and receive money for the book until he should be reimbursed the cost of
printing.^^

The exodus of the Smith family, first to some part of Pennsylvania —
preparatory to taking possession of the “Promise [d] Land” at Kirtland,
Ohio — occurred in 1831 or ’32.^^ — The Prophet went first, with Cowdery
and a few other followers, and married a wife in Pennsylvania — Rigdon
having been instrumental in the match-making of this affair, and was the
officiating “clergyman” at its celebration."^ ...

23. William Chapman, a native of England, became owner of Martin
Harris’s farm in the 1840s (T. Cook 1930, 195, 207). Chapman, age fifty-
five, is listed in the 1860 census of Palmyra, Wayne County, New York
(1860:858).

24. These assertions are of course incorrect, Rigdon having come to
New York after the organization of the church.

25. This did not occur until after the church had been established in
Ohio (see “Introduction to Joseph Smith, Sr., Collection”).

26. See IILL.17, JOSEPH SMITH, SR., AND MARTIN HARRIS
AGREEMENT, 17 JAN 1830.

27. Joseph Smith left Fayette, New York, for Kirtland, Ohio, in late
January 1831.

28. For Emma Smith’s denial that Rigdon had officiated at her and
Joseph’s 18 January 1827 wedding, see LF.3, EMMA SMITH BIDAMON
INTERVIEW WITH JOSEPH SMITH III, FEB 1879.

EZRA Thayre Reminiscence, 1862

“Testimony of Brother E[zra]. Thayre,” Saints' Herald 3 (October 1862):
79-80, 82-84.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Ezra Thayre (or Thayer) (1791-18??) was born in Randolph, Vermont.
In 1810 he married Polly Wales. By 1820 Thayre located about three and a
half miles outside of Canandaigua, New York, where he earned a living by
building bridges, dams, and miUs. He was baptized by Parley P. Pratt, perhaps
on 10 October 1830 (see note 7 below), ordained an elder by June 1831,
and ordained a high priest on 3 June 1831. He did not gather with the
Mormons to Utah, but was baptized by William W. Blair into the Reorgan¬
ized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Galien, Michigan, on 29
August 1860 (Cannon and Cook 1983, 292; L. Cook 1981, 47-48; Jessee
1989, 518-19; WiUiam W. Blair, Journal, 29 August 1860, RLDS Church
Library- Archives, Independence, Missouri). Concerning Thayre’s baptism
into the BJ.DS church, WiUiam W. Blair noted in his Memoirs:

He had been wandering for many years without church associations, but
upon attending our meetings he at once recognized the voice of the good
Shepherd and readily united with the church. From him we learned much
in regard to Joseph the Seer, his early life and his father’s family. Brother
Thayre had been a bridge, dam, and miU builder in that section of country
where Joseph and his father’s family resided in his boyhood, and Father
Smith and his sons, including Joseph, had been in Brother Thayre’s
employ. He told me that, though in humble circumstances in life, the
Smith family was an upright and worthy one.

He further said that when Joseph, after translating the Book of Mor¬
mon, returned into his region of country with Father Smith, Hyrum Smith,
and Oliver Cowdery, he (Brother Thayre) was persuaded by his brother re¬
siding in Auburn, New York, to go and hear them set forth their religious
views in a meeting near his residence on a Sunday. He said that on reaching
the double log house where the meeting was held, he pressed his way
through the congregation and took his seat immediately in front of these
new preachers, listened to broken remarks by the three others, and then
Joseph, taking the Book of Mormon in his hand, proceeded, in his un-

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

learned manner, to tell the history of its coming forth, and explained how
he received the golden plates at the hands of the angel, how he translated
the book by the gift of God, with other marvelous matters connected with
its coming forth; and he said that immediately upon Joseph’s beginning
these statements, a new and heavenly power fell upon him, filling his entire
being with unspeakable assurance of the truth of the statements, melting
him to tears. When Joseph concluded his recital, he said he eagerly
stretched forth his hand and said, “Let me have that book.” It was handed to
him and Brother Thayre kept it, esteeming it a heavenly treasure indeed.
He said that afterward he aided them at different times, when he could, in
spreading the knowledge of the work to others, but that his family became
prejudiced, and they opposed him bitterly (Blair 1908, 39-40; cf. Saints'
Herald37 [12July 1890]: 461).

Perhaps at Blair’s instigation, Thayre prepared an account of his early
experiences, which was published in the Saints' Herald in October 1862.
Differing slightly from Blair’s remembered account, Thayre’s 1862 reminis¬
cence is of course the authoritative version.

... I did not hear much about the Book of Mormon until Joseph Smith
was getting it printed, and then my men which were at work on my building
brought false stories to me, and I was filled with wrath about it. I said I would
let a pair of horses go to take him to prison. I said it is blasphemy. I took a
hoe and went into the field. As soon as I commenced I was struck as with a
rushing wind, which almost frightened me to death. When I was a little
recovered, I started for the house. I got to talking with these men and became
more wrathy than ever. I went back again, and was frightened double what
I was before. When I recovered I started again for the house and ran.

When they commenced preaching, a messenger came to tell me that
my mother was dying. I had a half brother living with me and a nephew, and
they took my horses and went to meeting, to hear Hyrum [Smith] ^ preach
while I was gone. When I came back they told me that they had been to hear
him preach on the Golden Bible. I did not like it, and I told them that they
must not take my horses again to hear those blasphemous wretches preach.
My half brother said that Hyrum said that Joseph had seen an angel. My
nephew [p. 79] said that there was something in it, and that I had better go
and hear him. About that time I had another brother about 40 miles off He

1. On Hyrum Smith (1800-1844), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 12.

EZRA THAYRE REMINISCENCE, 1862

came down and wanted me to go for he wanted to go himself — The next
Sundays I went and there was a large concourse of people around his
[Hyrum’s] father’s house, so that they extended to the road, filling up the
large lot. I rushed in and got close to the stand, so as to be particular to hear
what was said.

When Hyrum began to speak, every word touched me to the inmost
soul. I thought every word was pointed to me. God punished me and riveted
me to the spot. I could not help myself. The tears rolled down my cheeks,
I was very proud and stubborn. There were many there who knew me, I
dare not look up. I sat until I recovered myself before I dare look up. They
sung some hymns and that filled me with the Spirit. When Hyrum got
through, he picked up a book and said, “here is the Book of Mormon.” I
said, let me see it. I then opened the book, and I received a shock with such
exquisite joy that no pen can write and no tongue can express. I shut the
book and said, what is the price of it? “Fourteen shillings” was the reply. I
said. I’ll take the book. I opened it again, and I felt a double portion of the
Spirit, that I did not know whether I was in the world or not. I felt as though
I was truly in heaven.

Martin Harris^ rushed to me to tell me that the book was true. I told
him that he need not tell me that, for I knew that it is true as well as he. I
hunted up my brother and I said, let us go home. — He said, “what do you
think of the book?” I said, it is true as sure as God sits upon his throne. I
asked him what he thought of it. He said that he believed it, and had an
evidence of its truth. — When God shows a man such a thing by the power
of the Holy Ghost he knows it is true. He cannot doubt it.

When we started on our way home, there came a bird of the color of
a robin, but a little larger. It flew around the horses heads nearly down to
my hands as I held the lines, and followed us about 1 1/2 miles chirping all
the way. My brother kept saying, what does that mean? I never saw a bird
act so in my life. When I got to some woods it flew off, making another
singular noise. I came up to the door and my nephew said. Uncle Ezra has
bought one of those books, I knew he would. My wife came out and wanted
to know what I had got. I said, I have bought a book and it overpowers me
to read it, but I am going to lay it alongside of the Bible and see whether
they agree. I could not read it for one or two months without being filled
with the Spirit of the Lord. When I laid it down by the Bible, I could find

2. Perhaps 3 October 1830 (see note 7 below).

3. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

any passages that I wanted without turning the leaves over, opening to any
passage in the Bible which I wanted to find, and I had been very little
acquainted with the Bible.

When it got noised around, my house was filled with the neighbors
who wanted to see and hear it read. I read it myself because I was filled with
the Spirit. Men that swore would say with an oath that it read well. They
filled my house all day, and men made my wife be[p. 80]lieve that I was
crazy and would lose my friends and all my property. There was a Methodist
woman in my house, and her husband came over for her after all the company
was gone, and he was a Methodist. He wanted to know what I supposed that
book was for. I told him that it was to fulfil the covenants which God made
with Abraham, concerning his seed. He wanted to know how I could prove
that? I told him by the Bible. He said there was no such thing in the Bible,
and they were all cursed people, and they would go to hell at last. I turned
instantly to the place where it says, ‘T will bring my sons from afar, and my
daughters from the utmost parts of the earth, and they shall be my people
and I will be their God.” When I said that, he said “come wife, let’s go home,
I don’t want such a God to rule over me.” When they were gone my wife
began to cry, and said that I was crazy, and it would ruin me, and she would
leave me. I withdrew from the company, and sat down in the sitting room.
Suddenly a change came over me. I was sitting down to meditate upon it,
and suddenly an angel stood before me. He was a tall, black-eyed man, and
he was the handsomest person that I ever saw, and so bright and white that
he shined like the sun. he had on the handsomest robe that I ever saw. He
had a child in his arms as white as he was, with the most brilliant appearance.
He said, “you have come at the eleventh hour.” He said, “you must become
as this little child, or you can in no wise enter into the kingdom of God.”
He then said, “behold it is a male child.” He said, “take care, the devil is
after the child,” and I saw a huge black form in the shape of a man at the
door, and I had a large dog laying in the room, and he rose up and went to
the door and growled three times, and came back and laid down again. The
angel disappeared as he spoke, and the devil withdrew. Then a double portion
of the Spirit came on me, and I went into the room to my wife, and said
hallelujah to God and the Lamb! Hosannah to Jesus on high! I have seen an
angel of God, who has been into my room and visited me to-night. The first
sermon that ever I preached was to my wife.

They wanted me to bring the book [of Mormon] to Cananda[i]gua, and
I did so, and they perused it, first one, then another. Then one spoke and said
that he had a boy at home and if he could not make a better book than that
he would flog him. Then they all made their comments. Some said one thing

EZRA THAYRE REMINISCENCE, 1862

and some another, and none believed it. A lawyer (Dudley Martin)"^ was
sitting by reading a newspaper. He said, “have you all made your comments
on the book?” They said yes. He said let me see it. He looked in it a few
minutes and said, well gentlemen, you have all made your comments on the
book, and if you wish to bet 500 dollars. I will bet that you cannot make such
a book. He said again, I know as much as any of you, and as much as all of
you, and I will bet you 500 dollars that you cannot do it. Next day I had
occasion to to go to a grist mill, and the most of these men were there. They
com[p. 81]menced immediately, enquiring whether I believed it still. I could
not say that I beheved it, I knew it. Then an editor of a paper asked me if I
had a liberal education. I said no. Then he said that he could tell me that I
knew nothing concerning God if I had not had a liberal education. He said
that there was no God only the God of nature, that we aU came by chance. I
asked him how all things came, the sun, moon and planets, and who made
them and this world teeming with all its live animals. I pointed to the fields
with their ripening grain and all the flowers with the green leaves and trees.
He said the grain was caused by the labor of men’s hands. He said the cattle
were aU made by nature and came by chance, and likewise the trees and the
flowers. There was a Quaker there who said that if the book had come
through any of their preachers he would have believed it. I asked him what
kind of a man Martin Harris was. He said Martin lived neighbor to him, and
was an honest man, and if he should meet him in the woods and he wanted
500 or 1000 dollars, he would let him have it, because he was a punctual man.

Then I rose and testified by the Spirit that there was a God, who made
all things — heaven and earth, and things therein. I was in the Spirit aU the
time. I told them that the books was to gather the house of Israel. After I
had borne testimony by the Spirit, I started for home, and when I got home
I put up my horse and went into the same room were I saw the angel, and
sat down alone. As I did so, while pondering on the things which had
transpired that day, there was a rainbow came down on each side of the
room, which was the most beautiful that I ever saw. I looked up and said,
O Jesus, my God, and then there was a voice said, you have done well, and
applauded me very highly. He said, yes, I am God that made heaven and
earth, and there is none other God beside me. Then I was so filled with the
Spirit that I thought I was in heaven. The rainbow disappeared gradually and
all was gone. Then I was in the Spirit again, and a man came and brought
me a roll of paper and presented it to me, and also a trumpet and told me to
blow it. I told him that I never blowed any in my life. He said you can blow

4. This person remains unidentified.

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

it, try it. I put it in my mouth and blowed on it, and it made the most beautiful
sound that I ever heard. The roll of paper was the revelation on me and
Northrop Sweet. ^ Oliver [Cowdery]^ was the man that brought the roll and
trumpet. When he brought the revelation on me and Northrop Sweet, he
said, here is a revelation from God for you, now blow your trumpet, and I
said, I never blowed a trumpet. He said, you can. When that vision passed
away I saw in vision that I was driving on a road that I never drove before.

Joseph was then in Harmony, Pa., and the next Sunday^ he came to
his father’s house, and we assembled to see him. I had not conversed with
him before concerning the book. Then I told him what had happened and
how I knew the book was true. He then asked me what hindered me from
going into the water, as Oliver Cowdery’s [p. 82] mother^ was going to be
baptized. I said, I am ready and willing at any time. Then we started to the
water, which was four or five miles off. When I got on the way I saw the
same horses and the same persons, (6 of them) that I saw in the before

5. D&C 33. Northrop Sweet (1802-?) was born in New York. Before
1828, he mxarried Elathan Harris (b. 1805), daughter of Em.er Harris. He was
baptized by Parley P. Pratt on the same day in October 1830 as Ezra Thayre.
Soon after moving to Ohio in 1831, he apostatized. About 1845 he moved to
Michigan. The details of his death remain unknown, but he was evidently liv¬
ing with his son Hezekiah in Bethel, Branch County, Michigan, in 1880 (L.
Cook 1981, 48).

6. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

7. Because Joseph Smith had returned to Fayette, New York, by 21
October (at which time he dictated Moses 5:43b-51), there are only three
Sundays in October 1830 for Thayre’s baptism: 3, 10, or 17. The first Sunday
in October seems ruled out by Thayre’s hearing Hyrum preach on the Sun¬
day previous to his baptism: the previous Sunday, 26 September, Hyrum was
likely in Fayette attending the church’s three-day conference. Since Hyrum
had moved to Colesville in early October (see LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1845, 1853:159, and n. 266; IV.A.2, NEWEL KNIGHT JOUR¬
NAL, CIRCA 1846, 23) and was not present in Manchester to preach on 10
October, Sunday, 17 October, for Thayre’s baptism is also excluded. Thus 10
October is the most likely Sunday in October for the baptisms of Thayre,
Sweet, and Keziah Cowdery.

8. Keziah Pearce (Austin) Cowdery (1773-1861), Oliver’s step¬
mother, grew up in Poultney, Vermont. She married William Cowdery
about 1810. Their first child, Rebecca Maria, was born in December 1810 at
Williamson, Ontario County, New York. Keziah died at Ellery, New York
(Mehling 1911, 95-96; tombstone, Bemus Point Cemetery, EUery, New
York).

EZRA THAYRE REMINISCENCE, 1862

mentioned vision, and the houses all along were the same as had been shown
me. When I came to the grist mill, I saw that I had seen it in the vision, but
I had never been there before. We were baptized just below the mill.^ There
was a green meadow which I had seen before. Parley P. Pratt^^ baptized us,
and I had seen him in the vision. I saw him pull two fish out of the water
and another which was a small fish. — I saw that I and Oliver’s mother were
the two persons referred to in the vision. The small fish meant Northrop
Sweet. He was baptized at the same time, but soon left the church.

About this time my brother came and told me that he dreamt that my
mother died and flew away into a swamp, and she was spotted. I felt
concerned, fearing that she was lost. She was a Methodist. I prayed to God
that I might know whether she was saved. — I prayed in faith, and I never
asked for anything about that time but he gave it to me. I saw my mother
suddenly standing before me. She had on the same looking dress as I saw the
angel have. I said, O my mother! my mother! She said that I had sinned in
some things but I must be faithful.

I and Northrop Sweet were both confirmed by Joseph, and Northrop
had the Spirit, but I did not. Joseph said to me, you will not receive the Spirit
now, but you will soon. The next morning^ ^ I was going a journey, and I
got on the box of the stage. I rode so until 9 o’clock, P.M., then a young
man got on, and he swore. I reproved him for it. He said that his parents
were Baptists and taught him better, and he was going to quit and go home.
Then the Lord poured out his Spirit upon me in the most extraordinary
manner. — Then we stopped at a hotel. When I went to bed, as I laid my
coat off, I received a greater outpouring. Then I said, I know that Joseph is
a prophet, and I have never doubted since.

I invited Joseph to come to my barn and I said that I would go to
Cananda[i]gua and get a large congregation. The barn was about 50 feet
long by 18 wide. It was filled and some could not get in. Joseph, Hyrum,
Oliver Cowdery, D[avid].,^“ J[ohn].^^ and P[eter]. Whitmer,^"^ Pjarley]. P.

9. Concerning the location of these baptisms, see III.J.35, THOMAS
L. COOK HISTORY, 1930.

10. On Parley P. Pratt (1807-57), see introduction to III. K. 16, PAR¬
LEY P. PPJVTT AUTOBIOGPJVPHY, CIRCA 1854 (PART I).

11. Perhaps Monday, 11 October 1830 (see note 7 above).

12. On David Whitmer (1805-88), see “Introduction to David Whit-
mer Collection.”

13. On John Whitmer (1802-78), see “Introduction to John Whitmer
Collection.”

14. On Peter Whitmer (1809-36), see I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 63.

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

Pratt and Ziba Peterson^^ preached with great power. Then the people
invited us to Cananda[i]gua. I went down to engage a place for them to
preach in. They had promised that we should meet in the Methodist
Meeting house, but the Trustees would not agree, so I engaged the Court
House. The elders met at my house that night. — We went down and
Sydney [Rigdon]^^ commenced preaching. I attended the door. The meet¬
ing commenced about dark. About 7 or 8 o’clock, I saw a light spring
up in the east. I pointed it out to some that were standing out, and they
all looked at it, and they said that it was the Montezuma marsh on fire.
The marsh was only in the east. I said look in the south as another great
light sprung up in that direction, [p. 83] then another in the west, and I
said look in the west; then another in the north, and I said look in the
north. It became about as light as noon day, and rolled over in the sky

15. On Ziba Peterson (?-1849), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 103.

16. This event took place in October 1830, before Oliver Cowdery,
Parley P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer, Jr., and Ziba Peterson left Manchester, New
York, for Ohio and Missouri (see IILL.22, MISSIONARIES COVENANT,
17 OCT 1830). However, the presence of Hyrum is problematic since
Hymm, according to Lucy, left for ColesviUe the day after Joseph Smith’s ar¬
rival in Manchester (see LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, 1853:159,
and n. 266).

17. The presence of Sidney Rigdon necessarily dates these Canan¬
daigua meetings to December 1830 or January 1831, probably the former.
Thayre perhaps conflates two separate meetings: October 1830, when Joseph
Smith preached in his barn, and the following December, when Smith per¬
haps again preached in his barn and Rigdon in the courthouse. Edwin
Holden of Avon, Livingston County, New York, may have been at the De¬
cember 1830 meeting, although he gives a different location and date. He
states: “The first time I saw Joseph Smith was in [January?] 1831, in Genesee
[County? Geneseo Village, Livingston County?], New York State, about
twenty-five miles from the famous hiU, Cumorah. On hearing that two men
were there calling themselves ‘Mormons,’ I determined to see them. I rode
on horseback fifteen miles from the place I was living to see them — Joseph
Smith and Sidney Rigdon. When I got to the place, I learned that they were
going to hold a meeting in a barn. It was so crowded that it was with much
difficulty I got inside; and by a great effort climbed up on one of the beams
of the roof. There I could see and hear them distinctly” { Juvenile Instructor 27
[1 March 1892]: 153). Perhaps Holden describes a separate but similar in¬
stance of Smith and Rigdon preaching in a barn for which there is no other
record. Regardless, this would have been in December 1830 since Smith and
Rigdon were not in the area together thereafter.

EZRA THAYRE REMINISCENCE, 1862

like a great blaze of fire, extending and met at the zenith. It was seen by
about 40 or 50 persons outside. I locked the door and would not let them
go in to disturb the congregation, therefore the congregation knew nothing
about it. It continued about one hour and a half. It passed away before
the meeting broke up.

After the meeting, I got all the brethren into my wagon to go to my
house. After we had started we saw a light as large as a hogshead, which
followed us all the way, (3 1/2 miles) above the wagon probably 150 feet,
and it lighted us so that we could see the horses tracks in the road. Joseph
said that it was one of the signs of the coming of the Son of man. When we
got to the house, I told the brethren to go in, and I would unharness. The
light went no further than we went. I could see to unharness and feed my
horses as well as in the day time. There was no moon visible. When I was
done, the light flashed and disappeared instantly. ...

I say in the presence of God and all his holy angels, and before all that
seraphic host, that this is the truth. If there are any errors, I do not know it.

EZRA THAYRE.

STEPHEN S. HARDING TO
POMEROY TUCKER, 1 JUNE 1867

Pomeroy Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism (New York: D.
Appleton and Co., 1867), 280-81, 284-87.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Stephen S. Harding (1808-?), a cousin of Pomeroy Tucker, spent his
early childhood in Palmyra, New York. In 1820 he left Palmyra with his
parents and relocated in Ripley County, Indiana. In 1828 Harding was
admitted to the Indiana bar, and in 1862 was appointed by President
Abraham Lincoln as Utah’s territorial governor. However, Harding re¬
signed in the fall of 1863 following sharp conflict with Mormon president
Brigham Young. After serving as chief justice in the territory of Colorado
for about a year, he returned to Indiana and practiced law until becoming
blind in 1881. He died at Milan, Indiana {Indiana Magazine of History 26
gune 1930]: 157-59).

Shortly after becoming a lawyer, Harding visited relatives in
Palmyra during August and September 1829. He was present in E. B.
Grandin’s shop when printing began on the Book of Mormon, and
was introduced to Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, Joseph Smith, and
others. In a letter to Tucker, dated 1 June 1867, Harding described
events relating to Mormon origins he witnessed during his 1829 visit
to Palmyra. For another Harding letter on the same subject, see
III.J.15, STEPHEN S. HARDING TO THOMAS GREGG, FEB
1882.

MILAN, INDIANA, 1, 1867.

POMEROY TUCKER, ESQ.:

MY DEAR SIR, — Y our letter of 22d was received on my coming home
from court last night. I entirely approve your plan of Mormon history,
beginning as you do with its origin in the illusory tricks of Joe Smith, which
he had practised upon his superstitious followers for years anterior to his
Golden Bible “vision,” and before he had dreamed of becoming a “prophet.”

STEPHEN S. HARDING TO POMEROY TUCKER, 1867

I knew Smith, and also Martin Harris^ and Oliver Cowdery,“ with some of
their fanatical associates at and around Palmyra, and heard much of their early
delusions, and can appreciate the importance to the civilized world of your
forthcoming narrative. It has long been needed to complete the history of
Latter-Day Saintism, and it has been a matter of wonder to me that such a
disclosure of the great pretension, showing the nothingness of its groundwork,
was not written up years ago. With your facilities for performing this
service — your personal knowl[p. 280] edge of the whole imposture and its
authors — ^you cannot fail in producing a work of general interest and popular
favor. I will proceed at once to answer your inquiries so far as I can. ... [p.
281] ...^

PIONEER MORMONS— SACRED RELIC.

When I was in Palmyra in 1829,“^ I went with Joe Smith, at his special
request, to his father’s house, in company with Martin Harris and Oliver
Cowdery, for the purpose of hearing read his wonderful “translations” from
the sacred plates. This was before these revelations had been given to the
world in the printed “Book of Mormon.” Subsequently,^ after the printing
contract had been concluded between Grandin^ and Harris, I was in the
printing-office with yourself, and also the three pioneer Mormons named,
when the proof-sheet of the first form of the book, including the title-page,
was revised by you. A corrected impression of it was passed around to the
young prophet and his attendant disciples, all of whom appeared to be
delighted with the dawn[p. 284] ing of the new gospel dispensation, and it
was accepted by Smith as “according to revelation.” By consent of the
brotherhood, you finally gave this “revise sheet” to me as a curiosity, and I
retained it until some two years after Smith’s murder, and before the

1. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

2. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow¬
dery Collection.”

3. Harding’s discussion about Mormonism in Utah (pp. 281-84) is
here deleted.

4. Harding probably arrived in Palmyra in late August 1829, when the
Book of Mormon was first being printed (compare IILJ.15, STEPHEN S.
HARDING TO THOMAS GREGG, FEB 1882, 35), and left in September
1829 (ibid., 49-50).

5. The event described, according to IILJ.15, STEPHEN S. HARD¬
ING TO THOMAS GREGG, FEB 1882, 52, occurred in August 1829.

6. On Egbert B. Grandin (1806-45), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 77.

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

Mormons had gone to Utah, when it was bestowed by me upon a grateful
wandering “saint” of the name of Robert Campbell,^ who had been cared
for over night at my present residence. This “sacred relic” is now among the
archives in the “Historian’s Office” at Salt Lake City.

COMMAND TO PREACH THE MORMON GOSPEL.

You ask me to write my recollections of the “call” to preach the
Mormon gospel, as “revealed” to Calvin Stoddard in 1829.^ I can do so
with as distinct a remembrance as if that unjustifiable act of a “wild and
fast young man” had occurred yesterday. I can never forget it, for I was
almost as badly scared, before I had got done with the mischief, as poor
Calvin was; and I have never to this day been quite satisfied with my
conduct. I was especially led to play the trick by the strange credulity
which Martin Harris had manifested the same day, as we walked together

7. Robert L. Campbell (1825-74) was born in Scotland. He was bap¬
tized in 1842, and immigrated to Nauvoo, Illinois, in April 1845. He worked
extensively as a clerk for the church, including for Joseph Smith’s Manuscript
History. He died at Salt Lake City, Utah (Jenson 1971, 3:613-14; Jessee 1971,
460).

8. The title page and first uncut sheet of the Book of Mormon that
Harding gave to Robert Campbell is presently in the LDS Church Archives,
Salt Lake City, Utah. At the bottom of this page, Harding wrote: “Presented
to the Church of Latter day Saints by Stephen S. Harding August 8th 1847.”
In the right margin, Harding wrote sideways on the sheet: “This is the first
impression thrown off from the form, on which was printed the Book of
Mormon; and handed to me by the Pressman, in the Village of Palmyra New
York. S[tephen]. S. Harding” (see photograph of original in Church History in
the Fulness of Times, 1989, 64).

9. Compare IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 80-
81; and IILJ.15, STEPHEN S. HARDING TO THOMAS GPJEGG, FEB
1882, 48-49. Calvin Stoddard (1801-36), a resident of Macedon, New York,
was baptized in the Baptist church on 3 April 1825, during the Palmyra re¬
vival of 1824-25. He married Sophronia Smith on 30 December 1827. Stod¬
dard began having difficulties with the Baptists over the principle of open
communion, and on 16 August 1828 the committee appointed to visit Stod¬
dard reported that he had said of the Baptists “that many of them were Dev¬
ils” (Minutes of the Palmyra Baptist Church, entries of 5 March 1825, 3 April
1825, 19 July 1828, 16 August 1828, Samuel Colgate Baptist Historical Col¬
lection, American Baptist Historical Society, Rochester, New York). Stod¬
dard joined the Mormon church but later was cited for disbelief He evi¬
dently died at Palmyra, New York (Jessee 1984, 658, n. 122; Jessee 1989,

517; Cannon and Cook 1983, 291).

STEPHEN S. HARDING TO POMEROY TUCKER, 1867

to hear Lorenzo Dow^^ preach in Palmyra. Added to this inducement,
Calvin had previously told me of the wonderful things he had seen in the
sky, and of his serious impressions about his duty to preach the new gospel.
My purpose was to try an experiment in delusion, upon Joe Smith’s prin¬
ciple, merely for my own amusement and instruction. The main story is
the same as you have related it in the extract [p. 285] of your manuscript
sent me, and it need not be repeated in this letter. I remained at the
door only for a moment, long enough to hear the startled Mormon saint
in his fright cry out to his Maker in supplication for mercy and promise
of obedience; when, taking to my heels, no young scapegrace ever did
taller running, in proportion to locomotive capacity, then I did that dark
night. I was stopping for a few days as a guest with my relative, Mr. Hill,
in the vicinity, and gained access to my room about eleven o’clock without
discovery. Pale and haggard in appearance, from lack of sleep or per¬
haps from repentance for his former disobedience, Stoddard was early the
next morning in the fulfilment of the “command” among his neighbors,
relating in the most earnest manner the marvellous particulars of the miracle
of which he was the “chosen” subject. He repeated the words of the
“celestial messenger” as addressed to him, with entire accuracy, and said
they were communicated amid the roaring thunders of heaven and the
musical sounds of angels’ wings. For aught I have ever heard since, he
held out to the end faithful to his ministerial calling in the Mormon cause.
Sincerely regretting my mischievous experiment — for I really began to feel
conscientious qualms about it — I sought to relieve my fanatic friend of his
delusion, by the suggestion that probably some unprincipled person had
imposed upon him, advising him to give no heed to the trick; but I found
that no such theory could be made available for my well-intended purpose,
for he had “spiritual” evidences on the subject that were above any human
testimony! ...^^ Poor Stoddard has gone to his final account. Peace to his
ashes! if that thoughtless [p. 286] act of my boyhood, thirty-eight years

10. Lorenzo Dow (1777-1834), known as “Crazy Dow” for his erratic
and eccentric manners, was born in Coventry, Connecticut. After becoming
a Methodist minister in 1798, he promoted camp meetings in New England,
New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, and England. His style of preaching in¬
spired the Primitive Methodist movement. He died at Georgetown, D.C.
(Wilson and Fiske 1887, 2:218).

11. Ellipses in original. See III. J, 8. POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867, 80-81.

12. Ellipses in original.

13. Ellipses in original.

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

ago, caused him one hour’s unhappiness, or contributed in any degree to
a single conversion to Mormonism, may He who “tempers the wind to
the shorn lamb” look upon my offence not in anger, but in mercy, for
I know that I did not intend to do a premeditated wrong to any one.

Truly yours,

STEPHEN S. HAITDING.

POMEROY Tucker Account, 1867

Pomeroy Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism (New York: D.
Appleton and Co., 1867), 11-83, 117-19, 129-130.

EDITORIAL NOTE

A significant source for Mormon origins, Tucker’s 1867 book has its
weaknesses. As Richard L. Anderson has observed: “From the point of view
of history, ... [it] is a disappointing performance. With access to the
generation that remembered the establishment of the Prophet’s work, the
experienced editor is content to quote the Hurlbut-Howe afhdavits, to repeat
common gossip, to quote extensive portions of the Book of Mormon and
articles about Brigham Young for the bulk of the book” (R. L. Anderson
1969a, 382). Indeed, one resident of Palmyra reported that “[Willard] Chase
said Tucker never called on him at all to find out what he knew” (ni.B.9,
HIRAM JACKWAY INTERVIEW, 1881). Lorenzo Saunders also states:
“Tucker never called on William [Willard] Chase for evidence. He had the
paralisis and was not competent to give testimony” (III. B. 12, LORENZO
SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884, n. 38). In his preface Tucker
named Willard Chase for possible corroboration, but in his book he seems
to rely on Chase’s 1833 statement to Hurlbut (IILJ.8, POMEROY
TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 19, 26, 31).

Yet there is much to commend in Tucker’s account of early Mormon¬
ism. As Anderson continues: “Tucker does relate much valuable information
concerning the period of the publication of the Book of Mormon. He also
claims knowledge of the Smiths ‘since their removal to Palmyra from
Vermont in 1816, and during their continuance there and in the adjoining
town of Manchester’ [Tucker 1867, 4]. ... Most of Tucker’s unattributed
particulars of the Smiths’ early Palmyra life are probably based on his
observation” (R. L. Anderson 1969a, 382). In his preface Tucker claims that
he “was equally acquainted with Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery, and
with most of the earlier followers of Smith, either as money-diggers or
Mormons,” and that during the printing of the Book of Mormon he “had
frequent and familiar interviews with the pioneer Mormons, Smith, Cow¬
dery, and Harris” (Tucker 1867, 4, 5).

For the following reproduction from Tucker’s book, chapter headings
and synopses (chapters I-VII, IX, and X) have been omitted. For biographical

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

information on Tucker (1802-70), see introduction to IILJ.5, POMEROY
TUCKER REMINISCENCE, 1858.

JOSEPH SMITH, Jr., who in the subsequent pages appears in the
character of the first Mormon prophet, and the putative founder of Mor-
monism and the Church of Latter Day Saints, was born in Sharon, Windsor
County, Vt., December 13, 1805.^ He was the son of Joseph Smith, Sr.,^
who, with his wife Lucy^ and their family, removed from Royalton, Vt.,"^ to
Palmyra, N.Y., in the summer of 1816.^ The family embraced nine children,
Joseph, Jr., being the fourth in the order of their ages, viz.: Alvin,^ Hyrum^
(so spelled by his father), Sophronia,^ JOSEPH, Samuel H.,^ William,
Catherine, Carlos, and Lucy. These constituted the chief earthly pos¬
sessions and respon[p. ll]sibilities of Mr. and Mrs. Smith at the time of their
emigration to Western New York.

At Palmyra, Mr. Smith, Sr., opened a ‘‘cake and beer shop,”^"^ as

1. Joseph Smith was born on 23 December 1805.

2. On Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

3. On Lucy Smith (1775-1856), see “Introduction to Lucy Smith Col¬
lection.”

4. The Smiths moved to Palmyra, New York, from Norwich, Ver¬
mont.

5. Lucy Smith says Joseph Sr. left Norwich after their third crop fail¬
ure, evidently in the summer or fall of 1816 (see LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1845, MS: 33). However, Lucy and her children arrived in the win¬
ter of 1816-17 (see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, Note A).

6. On Alvin Smith (1798-1823), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 10.

7. On Hyrum Smith (1800-44), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 12.

8. On Sophronia Smith (1803-76), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 16.

9. On Samuel Harrison Smith (1808-44), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 13.

10. On William Smith (1811-93), see “Introduction to William Smith
Collection.”

11. On Katharine Smith (1813-1900), see “Introduction to Katharine
Smith Collection.”

12. On Don Carlos Smith (1816-41), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 15.

13. On Lucy Smith (1821-82), who was born in Palmyra, New York,
see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, n. 18.

14. The reporter for the New York Herald said that those who knew
the Smiths claimed they sold “cake and ale” as well as “beer, hard cider and

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

described by his signboard, doing business on a small scale, by the profits of
which, added to the earnings of an occasional day’s work on hire by himself
and his elder sons, for the village and farming people, he was understood to
secure a scanty but honest living for himself and family. These hired day’s
works were divided among the various common labor jobs that offered from
time to time, such as gardening, harvesting, well-digging, etc.

Mr. Smith’s shop merchandise, consisting of gingerbread, pies, boiled
eggs, root-beer, and other like notions of traffic, soon became popular
with the juvenile people of the town and country, commanding brisk
sales, especially on Fourth of July anniversaries, and on military training
days, as these prevailed at that period. Peddling was done in the streets
on those occasions by the facility of a rude handcart of the proprietor’s
own construction.

Mr. Smith and his household continued their residence in Palmyra
village, living in the manner described, for some two and a half years. In
1818 they settled upon a nearly wild or unimproved piece of land, mostly
covered with standing timber, situate[d] about two miles south of Palmyra,
being on the north border of the town of Manchester, Ontario County.^^
[p. 12] The title of this landed property was vested in non-resident minor

boiled eggs” (25 June 1893). James Gordon Bennett reported in 1831 that the
Smiths had also sold “gingerbread” (III.K.6, JAMES GORDON BENNETT
ACCOUNT, 1831).

15. In a sermon given on 26 November 1857 at Palmyra’s Presbyterian
church, the Reverend Horace Eaton related: “In 1816 Joseph Smith, Sr.,
moved here from Vermont with his wife and nine children. For two years he
kept a cake and beer shop on lower Main street” (H. Eaton 1858, 28-29).
Contrary to the tradition recorded by Willard W. Bean that the Smiths origi¬
nally “rented a small frame building on the eastern outskirts of the village
near where Johnson Street takes off Vienna” (Bean 1938, 12), the Smith fam¬
ily apparently lived in Palmyra Village near the west end of Main Street (see
discussion in introduction to III.L.l, PALMYITA [NY] ROAD LISTS, 1817-
1822).

16. Tucker’s claim that the Smiths moved to their Manchester land in
1818 is an error. The shift of Joseph Smith Sr.’s name to the end of the
Palmyra road list in 1820 suggests a move to Stafford Road after April 1819
(III.L.l, PALMYRA [NY] ROAD LISTS, 1817-1822). However, this move
was to the Jennings cabin north of the Palmyra/Manchester township line
(IILL.2, PALMYILA [NY] HIGHWAY SURVEY, 13 JUN 1820). The
Smiths evidently contracted for their Manchester land soon after July 1820
(see IILL.4, SMITH MANCHESTER [NY] LAND ILECOBJDS, 1820-
1830).

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

heirs^^; and the premises being uncared for by any local agent or attorney,
the Smiths took possession of it by the rights of “squatter sovereignty.”^^
They thus remained unmolested in its possession for some twelve years,
occupying as their dwelling-place, in the first instance, a small, one-story,
smoky log-house, which they had built prior to removing there. This house
was divided into two rooms, on the ground-floor, and had a low garret, in
two apartments. A bedroom wing, built of sawed slabs, was afterward added.

Subsequently this property was purchased by Mr. Smith on contract, a
small payment thereon being made by him to bind the bargain^^; and in this
way his occupancy of the premises was prolonged until after the blooming
of the Mormon scheme in 1829.

But little improvement was made upon this land by the Smith family
in the way of clearing, fencing, or tillage. Their farm-work was done in a
slovenly, half-way, profitless manner.^^ Shortly before quitting the premises
they erected a small frame-house thereon, partly enclosed, and never finished
by them,^^ in which they lived for the remainder of their time there, using

17. Elizabeth Evertson, wife of Nicholas Evertson (who died in 1807),
David B. Ogden, and others (see nLL.4, SMITH MANCHESTER [NY]
LAND RECORDS, 1820-1830).

18. On 21 June 1820 the executors of Nicholas Evertson’s estate con¬
veyed to Casper W. Eddy, a physician in New York City, power of attorney
to sell Evertson’s land holdings. On 14 July 1820 Eddy transferred his power
of attorney for Evertson’s lands to Zachariah Seymour of Canandaigua, New
York. Prior to Seymour’s appointment, Evertson’s Manchester, New York,
land was “uncared for by any local agent or attorney” (see IILL.4, SMITH
MANCHESTER [NY] LAND RECORDS, 1820-1830).

19. The accuracy of this statement is uncertain since it is not known to
what extent the Smiths may have exploited the neighboring land before con¬
tracting for it themselves.

20. The Smiths contracted for their Manchester land some time be¬
tween July 1820 and July 1821, according to Manchester land assessment re¬
cords (see IILL.6, MANCHESTER [NY] LAND ASSESSMENT RE¬
CORDS, 1821-1823 & 1830; and IILL.4, SMITH MANCHESTER [NY]
LAND RECORDS, 1820-1830).

21. Both Lucy and William Smith claimed the family had cleared
about thirty or sixty acres of wooded land in the first years of their occupancy
(LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:37; and LD.4, WILLIAM
SMITH, ONMORMONISM, 1883, 12-13). But Tucker’s description might
apply to the years following the Smiths’ loss of their land in December 1825,
when as “renters” their interest in its improvement would have naturally sub¬
sided.

22. Lucy Smith said that Josiah Stowell came to their home in Octo¬
ber 1825, “a short time before the house was completed” (LB. 5, LUCY

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

their original log hut for a barn.^^ This property, finally vacated by the Smiths
in 1831,^"^ is now included in the well-organized farm of Mr. Seth T.
Chapman, on Stafford Street, running south from Palmyra, [p. 13]

The chief application of the useful industry of the Smiths during
their residence upon this farm-lot, was in the chopping and retaihng of
cord-wood, the raising and bartering of small crops of agricultural products
and garden vegetables, the manufacture and sale of black-ash baskets and
birch brooms, the making of maple sugar and molasses in the season for
that work,^^ and in the continued business of peddling cake and beer in

SMITH HISTORY, 1845, 1853:91). While occupied by the Smiths, certain
features of the house remained unfinished. According to Martin Harris, when
Joseph Smith hid the plates under the hearth in late September 1827, “the
wall [of the house] being partly down, it was feared that certain ones, who
were trying to get possession of the plates, would get under the house and dig
them out” (III.F.IO, MARTIN HAPJUS INTERVIEW WITH JOEL TIF¬
FANY, 1859, 166-67).

23. Tucker was apparently unaware that the Manchester cabin was oc¬
cupied by Hyrum and his wife after their marriage on 2 November 1826, and
that in April 1829 some of the Smith family moved back into the cabin with
Hyram’s family. Hence the use of the cabin as a barn must date to after the
Smiths’ occupancy. Or perhaps Tucker refers to the Jennings cabin occupied
by the Smiths prior to building their own cabin (see Berge 1985, 25). Tucker
fails to mention that the Smiths had also built a cooper’s shop, which had a
wooden floor and loft, and it is possible that this structure doubled as a barn
for the Smiths.

24. Actually the Smiths were forced to vacate their home in April
1829, at which time they crowded into Hyrum’s cabin (I.B.5, LUCY
SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:92-93; and I.D.4, WILLIAM SMITH, ON
MORMONISM, 1883, 14). In 1830 Hyrum paid taxes on fifteen acres on
Manchester Lot 1, presumably a portion of the Smiths’ former land (see
IILL.6, SMITH MANCHESTER [NY] LAND ASSESSMENT KE-
CORDS, 1821-1823 & 1830). In early October 1830 Hyrum moved his fam¬
ily to Colesville, New York, with the remainder of the Smiths moving to
Waterloo soon after (LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, 1853:158-69).

25. Seth T. Chapman purchased the property from Absalom and Ruth
Weeks for $5,750 on 2 April 1860 (Porter 1971, 358). On 28 January 1867
Chapman sold the property to Charles W. Bennett for $7,500, and on the
same day Bennett sold it to Clarissa Chapman, Seth Chapman’s wife, for the
same amount. Chapman, age forty-eight, is listed in the 1860 census of Man¬
chester, Ontario County, New York, with his wife, Clarissa, and four chil¬
dren (1860:469).

26. On the Smiths’ sugar industry, see IILB.12, LOILENZO SAUN¬
DERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884, 7; IILB.13, BENJAMIN SAUNDERS

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

the village on days of public doings. It was as a clerk in this last-mentioned
line of trade that the rising Joseph (the prophet to be) learned his first
lessons in commercial and monetary science. And in this connection it
may not be out of place to state, in the way of illustration in respect to
the beginning of human greatness on his part — though the mention of
the fact is by no means creditable to the memory of the mischievous
parties implicated — that the boys of those by-gone times used to dehght
in obtaining the valuable goods intrusted to Joseph’s clerkship, in exchange
for worthless pewter imitation two-shilling pieces.

The larger proportion of the time of the Smiths, however, was spent in
hunting and fishing, trapping muskrats (“mushrats” was the word they used),
digging out woodchucks from their holes, and idly lounging around the
stores and shops in the village. Joseph generally took the leading direction of
the rural enterprises mentioned, instead of going to [p. 14] school like other
boys — though he was seldom known personally to participate in the practical
work involved in these or any other pursuits. Existing as they did from year
to year in this thriftless manner, with seemingly inadequate visible means or
habits of profitable industry for their respectable livelihood, it is not at all to
be wondered at that the suspicions of some good people in the community
were apt to be turned toward them, especially in view of the frequently
occurring nocturnal depredations and thefts in the neighborhood. On these
accounts the inhabitants came to observe more than their former vigilance in
the care of their sheepfolds, hencoops, smoke-houses, pork-barrels, and the
like domestic interests; though it is but common fairness to accompany this
fact by the statement, that it is not within the remembrance of the writer,
who in this designedly impartial narrative would “nothing extenuate nor
aught set down in malice,” if the popular inferences in this matter were ever
sustained by judicial investigation.^^

It is appropriate to remark, however, that the truth of history, no less
than proper deference to the recollections of many living witnesses in

INTERVIEW, CIRCA SEP 1884, 25; LD.7, WILLIAM SMITH INTER¬
VIEW WITH E. C. BRIGGS, 1893; and LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY,
1845, 39.

27. No legal record against the Smiths for theft is known to exist, al¬
though the record is incomplete. However, the Smiths’ former neighbors did
accuse them of stealing livestock (see IILA.12, DAVID STAFFORD STATE¬
MENT, 5 DEC 1833; and IILD.2, SYLVIA WALKER STATEMENT, 20
MAR 1885). S. F. Anderick claimed the neighbors “often sent officers to
search the premises of the Smiths for stolen property” (IILD.8, S. F. AN¬
DERICK STATEMENT, 21 DEC 1887).

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

Palmyra and its vicinity, demand that these reminiscences should be given,
intimately blended as they are with the purpose in hand, to present before
the pubhc a candid and authentic account of the origin, rise, and progress of
Mormonism, from its first foundation, [p. 15]

At this period in the life and career of Joseph Smith, Jr., or ‘‘Joe Smith,”
as he was universally named, and the Smith family, they were popularly
regarded as an illiterate, whiskey-drinking, shiftless, irreligious race of peo¬
ple — the first named, the chief subject of this biography, being unanimously
voted the laziest and most worthless of the generation. From the age of twelve
to twenty years he is distinctly remembered as a dull-eyed, flaxen-haired,
prevaricating boy — noted only for his indolent and vagabondish character,
and his habits of exaggeration and untruthfulness. Taciturnity was among his
characteristic idiosyncrasies, and he seldom spoke to any one outside of his
intimate associates, except when first addressed by another; and then, by
reason of his extravagancies of statement, his word was received with the
least confidence by those who knew him best. He could utter the most
palpable exaggeration or marvellous absurdity with the utmost apparent
gravity. He nevertheless evidenced the rapid development of a thinking,
plodding, evil-brewing mental composition — ^largely given to inventions of
low cunning, schemes of mischief and deception, and false and mysterious
pretensions. In his moral phrenology the professor might have marked the
organ of secretiveness as very large, and that of conscientiousness “omitted.”
He was, however, proverbially good-natured, very rarely if ever indulging
in any combative spirit toward any [p. 16] one, whatever might be the
provocation, and yet was never known to laugh. Albeit, he seemed to be the
pride of his indulgent father, who has been heard to boast of him as the ''genus
of the family,” quoting his own expression.

Joseph, moreover, as he grew in years, had learned to read compre¬
hensively, in which quaHfication he was far in advance of his elder brother,
and even of his father; and this talent was assiduously devoted, as he quitted
or modified his idle habits, to the perusal of works of fiction and records
of criminality, such for instance as would be classed with the “dime novels”
of the present day.^^ The stories of Stephen Burroughs"^ and Captain

28. Concerning Joseph Jr.’s reading habits, Lucy Smith said that her
seventeen-year-old son “had never read the Bible throu=gh by course in his
life for Joseph was less inclined to the study of books than any child we had
but much more given to reflection and deep study” (I.B.5, LUCY SMITH
HISTORY, 1845, MS:43).

29. Stephen Burroughs (1765-1840) was bom in Hanover, New
Hampshire. In his popular Memoirs of My Own Life published in 1811 in Al-

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

Kidd,^^ and the like, presented the highest charms for his expanding mental
perceptions. As he further advanced in reading and knowledge, he assumed
a spiritual or religious turn of mind, and frequently perused the Bible,
becoming quite familiar with portions thereof, both of the Old and New
Testaments; selected texts from which he quoted and discussed with great
assurance when in the presence of his superstitious acquaintances. The
Prophecies and Revelations were his special forte. His interpretations of
scriptural passages were always original and unique, and his deductions and
conclusions often disgustingly blasphemous, according to the common ap¬
prehensions of Christian people.

Protracted revival meetings were customary in [p. 17] some of the
churches, and Smith frequented those of different denominations, sometimes
professing to participate in their devotional exercises. At one time he joined
the probationary class of the Methodist church in Palmyra, and made some
active demonstrations of engagedness, though his assumed convictions were
insufficiently grounded or abiding to carry him along to the saving point of
conversion, and he soon withdrew from the class. The final conclusion
announced by him was, that all sectarianism was fallacious, all the churches
on a false foundation, and the Bible a fable.

In unbelief, theory and practice, the Smith family, all as one, so far as
they held any definable position upon the subject of religion — basing this

bany. New York, Burroughs recounts his many exploits, including his coun¬
terfeiting money, capture, conviction, and imprisonment at Northhampton,
Massachusetts. Later he converted to Roman Catholicism and spent the re¬
mainder of his life as a respected teacher (Wilson and Fiske 1887, 1:470).

30. William Kidd (1645-1701) was born in Scotland. He was a ship
owner and sea captain, who was commissioned by New York governor Rich¬
ard Coote as a privateer against pirates in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
When he returned to New York City in 1690 to clear himself of charges of
piracy and murder, he was arrested and sent to London to stand trial. He was
convicted and hanged in London on 23 May 1701 {Who Was Who in Amer¬
ica, 1967, 1:293).

31. Joseph Smith himself said that he “became somewhat partial to the
Methodist sect, and I felt some desire to be united with them,” but eventu¬
ally decided against it (LA. 15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 2). Since
Smith described these feelings in the context of the 1824-25 Palmyra revival
(the occasion of his mother’s conversion to Presbyterianism), it is possible
that the event Tucker describes occurred about that time (see also IILJ.2,
ORSAMUS TURNER ACCOUNT, 1851, 214; and IILK.35, LOCK-
WOOD R. DOTY HISTORY, 1925, 56, which follows Tucker but assigns
the date 1824-25).

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

conclusion upon all the early avowals and other evidences remembered, as
well as upon the subsequent developments extant — were unqualified atheists.
Can their mockeries of Christianity, their persistent blasphemies, be ac¬
counted for upon any other hypothesis? [p. 18]

In September, 1819,^^ a curious stone was found in the digging of a
well upon the premises of Mr. Clark Chase,^^ near Palmyra. This stone
attracted particular notice on account of its peculiar shape, resembling that
of a child’s foot. It was of a whitish, glassy appearance, though opaque,
resembling quartz. Joseph Smith, Sr., and his elder sons Alvin and Hyrum,
did the chief labor of this well-digging, and Joseph, Jr., who had been a
frequenter in the progress of the work, as an idle looker-on and lounger,
manifested a special fancy for this geological curiosity; and he carried it home
with him, though this act of plunder was against the strenuous protestations
of Mr. Chase’s children, who claimed to be its rightful owners.

Joseph kept this stone, and ever afterward refused its restoration to the
claimants. Very soon the pretension transpired that he could see wonderful
[p. 19] things by its aid. This idea was rapidly enlarged upon from day to
day, and in a short time his spiritual endowment was so developed that he
asserted the gift and power (with the stone at his eyes) of revealing both

32. Quinn follows Tucker’s dating of September 1819 for Smith’s ac¬
quiring his first stone, suggesting that Tucker’s informants were reaUy describ¬
ing Smith’s procurement of his “white stone” rather than the discovery of the
dark-brown stone (shaped like a baby’s foot), which Willard Chase said was
found in the well in 1822 (see Quinn 1987, 38-41; III.A.14, WILLARD
CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11 DEC 1833, 240). Despite the fact that
all other details are incorrect, Quinn insists that Tucker’s date is correct
(Quinn 1998, 33, 43-53). The only dateable account of Smith’s possession of
a stone other than the Chase stone is the transcript of the March 1826 court
hearing, which mentions his use of a “white stone” in the Bainbridge area
(see IV.F.l, BAINBRIDGE [NY] COURT RECORD, 20 MAR 1826).
Moreover, the court record itself limits Smith’s stone gazing to the previous
three years (c. 1823). If Smith owned a white stone previous to the 1822 dis¬
covery of the Chase stone, it was not long before. Because Tucker fails to
mention his sources and is inaccurate about the major elements of his ac¬
count, it is perhaps a mistake to place too much confidence in his dating.

33. The well was situated on land jointly held by Clark Chase and his
sons WiUard and Mason (see IILJ.35, THOMAS L. COOK HISTORY,

1930, 238; see also Quinn 1987, 41, n. 7). Clark Chase, over forty-five years
of age, is listed in the 1820 census of Farmington, Ontario County, New
York (1820:315).

34. See III. A. 14, WILLARD CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11
DEC 1833, 240-41, 247.

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

things existing and things to come.

For a length of time this clairvoyant manifestation W2is sought to be
turned to selfish advantage, in the way of fortune-telling, and in the pre¬
tended discovery by the medium of the seer-stone of lost or stolen property.
But the realizations from these sources were insufficient to encourage a long
continuance of the experiments, though some small amounts were obtained
by them; and a very worthy citizen now living in Palmyra actually paid
seventy-five cents in money for being sent some three miles on a fool’s errand
in pursuit of a stolen roll of cloth. It is presumed to be needless to add, that
no genuine discoveries of stolen property were made in this manner, and that
the entire proceeds derived from the speculation went into Joe’s pocket.

The most glittering sights revealed to the mortal vision of the young
impostor in the manner stated, were hidden treasures of great value, including
enormous deposits of gold and silver sealed in earthen pots or iron chests,
and buried in the earth in the immediate vicinity of the place where he stood.
These discoveries finally became too dazzling for his eyes in daylight, and he
had to shade his vision by looking [p. 20] at the stone in his hat! Of course
but few persons were sufficiently stolid to listen to these silly pretensions, for
they were only of a piece with Joe’s habitual extravagances of assertion. Yet
he may have had believers.

Persisting in this claim to the gift of spiritual discernment. Smith very
soon succeeded in his experiment upon the credulity of a selected audience
of ignorant and superstitious persons, to an extent which it is presumed he
could not himself have anticipated at the outset of the trial. He followed up
this advantage, and by its means, in the spring of 1820,^^ raised some small
contributions from the people in the vicinity, to defray the expense of digging
for the buried money, the precise hiding-place of which he had discovered
by the aid of the stone in his hat. At an appointed time, being at a dead hour
of night, his dupes and employed laborers repaired with lanterns to the
revealed locality of the treasure, which was upon the then forest hill, a short
distance from his father’s house^^; and after some preparatory mystic cere¬
monies, the work of digging began at his signal. Silence, as the condition of

35. Compare IILJ.5, POMEROY TUCKER REMINISCENCE,

1858. Although neighbors such as Willard Chase said the Smiths began
money digging in 1820 (IILA.14, WILLARD CHASE STATEMENT,
CIRCA 11 DEC 1833, 240), the use of a stone by Joseph Jr. dates the event
described by Tucker to after 1822, perhaps the spring of 1823 (see n. 32
above).

36. This might be the hill on Manchester Lot 1 immediately east of
the Smiths’ house.

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

success, had been enjoined upon the chosen few present, who were to be
shares in the expected prize. The excavating process was continued for some
two hours, without a word being spoken — the magician meanwhile indicat¬
ing, by some sort of a wand in his hand,^^ the exact [p. 21] spot where the
spade was to be crowded into the earth — ^when, just at the moment the
money-box was within the seer’s grasp, one of the party, being “tempted by
the devil,” spoke! The enchantment was broken, and the treasure vanished!
Such was Joe’s explanation, and, ridiculous as was the idea, it was apparently
satisfactory to his dupes.

This was the inauguration of the impostor’s money-digging perform¬
ances; and the description given of this first trial and of its results is as near
exactitude as can at this time be recollected from his own accounts. Several
of the individuals participating in this and subsequent diggings, and many
others well remembering the stories of the time, are yet living witnesses of
these follies, and can make suitable corrections if the particulars as stated are
not substantially according to the facts.

The imposture was renewed and repeated at frequent intervals from
1820 to 1827, various localities being the scenes of these delusive searches
for money, as pointed out by the revelations of the magic stone. And these
tricks of young Smith were not too absurd for the credence of his fanatical
followers. He was sufficiently artful and persevering to preserve his spell¬
holding power over their minds, and keep up his deceptions for the length
of time before stated. It certainly evidences extraordinary talent or subtlety,
that for so long a period he could maintain the po[p. 22]tency of his art over
numbers of beings in the form of manhood, acknowledging their faith in his
supernatural powers. He continued to use this advantage in the progress of
his experiments to raise from them and others contributions in money and
various articles of value, amounting to a considerable aggregate sum, being
enough to pay the digging expenses (whiskey and labor), and also in this way
securing a handsome surplus, which went in part toward necessary domestic
supplies for the Smith family.

In some instances individuals were impelled, in their donations in this
business, by the motive of ridding themselves of Smith’s importunities, while
others advanced the idea that there “might be something in it,” as they
explained in reply to the unfavorable suggestions of reflecting friends. One
respectable and forehanded citizen, now living in Manchester, confesses to
having patronized Smith’s perseverance on this idea, and says he once handed

37. Apparently a reference to Joseph Smith’s use of a divining rod (see
Quinn 1987, 36).

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

him a silver dollar, pardy in that view and partly to “get rid of the fellow.”
Smith’s father and elder brothers generally participated in the manual labors
of these diggings, and their example seemed to revive confidence in the
sometimes wavering victims of the imposture, and also to bring others to
their aid.

The subsequent operations on this head were conducted substantially
in the mode and manner of the first performance, as described, with slight
variations [p. 23] in the incantations, and always with the same result — Smith
“almost” getting hold of the money-chest, but finally losing it by the
coincident breaking of the “spell” through some unforeseen satanic interpo¬
sition. By this cause the money would vanish just at the instant of its coming
within the necromancer’s mortal grasp!

A single instance of Smith’s style of conducting these money-diggings
will suffice for the whole series, and also serve to illustrate his low cunning,
and show the strange infatuation of the persons who yielded to his unprin¬
cipled designs. Assuming his accustomed air of mystery on one of the
occasions, and pretending to see by his miraculous stone exactly where the
sought-for chest of money had lodged in its subterranean transits, Smith gave
out the revelation that a “black sheep” would be required as a sacrificial
offering upon the enchanted ground before entering upon the work of
exhumation. He knew that his kind-hearted neighbor, William Stafford,
who was a listener to his plausible story — a respectable farmer in comfortable
worldly circumstances — possessed a fine, fat, black wether, intended for
division between his family use and the village market, and Smith knew,
moreover, that fresh meat was a rarity at his father’s home [p. 24] where he
lived. The scheme succeeded completely. It was arranged that Mr. Stafford
should invest the wether as his stock in the speculation, the avails of which
were to be equitably shared among the company engaging in it. At the
approach of the appointed hour at night, the digging fraternity, with lanterns,
and the fattened sheep for the sacrifice, were conducted by Smith to the place
where the treasure was to be obtained. There Smith described a circle upon
the ground around the buried chest, where the blood of the animal was to
be shed as the necessary condition of his power to secure the glittering gold.
As usual, not a word was to be spoken during the ceremony, nor until after

38. Footnote in original reads: “Mr. [William] Stafford, beginning in
early life, had been for many years a sailor, and was largely prone to the vaga¬
ries and superstitions peculiar to his class. He was thus an easy victim.” On
William Stafford, see introduction to III. A. 13, WILLIAM STAFFORD
STATEMENT, 8 DEC 1833.

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

the prize was brought forth. All things being thus in readiness, the throat of
the sheep was cut by one of the party according to previous instructions, the
poor animal made to pour its own blood around the circle, and the excavation
entered upon in a vigorous and solemn manner. In this case the digging was
continued for about three hours, when the “devil” again frustrated the plan
exactly in the same way as on the repeated trials before! In the mean time,
the elder Smith, aided by one of the junior sons, had withdrawn the sacrificial
carcass and reduced its flesh to mutton for his family use."^

Such is a true account, so far as it goes, of the long-continued and
astonishingly successful career of vice and deception led by Joseph Smith, Jr.,
which is [p. 25] believed to be ample in detail for the object of this publica¬
tion. These delusions, persevered in and improved upon from time to time,
culminated in 1827 by the great imposture of the pretended finding of the
“ancient metallic plates resembling gold,” afterward translated into the
“Golden Bible” or Book of Mormon, as will be explained in subsequent
pages.

Numerous traces of the excavations left by Smith are yet remaining as
evidences of his impostures and the folly of his dupes, though most of them
have become obliterated by the clearing off and tilling of the lands where
they were made.

It is an interesting illustrative fact to be noticed in the history of
Mormonism, as will hereafter be seen, that the origin of that extraordinary
politico-religious institution is traceable to the insignificant little stone found
in the digging of Mr. Chase’s well in 1819."^^ Such was the acorn of the
Mormon oak. [p. 26]

The fame of Smith’s money-digging performances had been sounded
far and near. The newspapers had heralded and ridiculed them.^^ The

39. Concerning the sacrifice of William Stafford’s sheep, see III. A. 13,
WILLIAM STAFFORD STATEMENT, 8 DEC 1833, 239; IILJ.36, WAL¬
LACE MINER REMINISCENCE, 1930; IILJ.37, WALLACE MINER
ILEMINISCENCE, 1932; IILJ.15, STEPHEN S. HARDING TO
THOMAS GREGG, FEB 1882, 56; IILD.4, CORNELIUS R. STAF¬
FORD STATEMENT, [23] MAR 1885. While Tucker dates this event be¬
tween 1820 and 1827, Thomas L. Cook believed it occurred in 1820 (see
IILJ.35, THOMAS L. COOK HISTORY, 1930, 221, 238).

40. According to Willard Chase, the stone was found in 1822
(IILA.14, WILLARD CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11 DEC 1833, 240).

41. Tucker’s paper, the Wayne Sentinel^ published items from other pa¬
pers that ridiculed stone gazing and the notion of enchanted treasures, but
never Joseph Smith specifically (see 16 February 1825, and 27 December
1825).

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

pit-hole memorials of his treasure explorations were numerous in the
surrounding fields and woodlands, attracting the inspection of the curious,
and the wonder of the superstitious. The outgivings of “spiritual demonstra¬
tions,” in various forms and in different parts of the country, had perhaps
contributed in preparing the fanatical mind for some extraordinary revela¬
tion. Notwithstanding the failure of seven or eight years’ continued efforts
for the attainment of the promised wealth from its hidden earthy deposit, yet
“the fools were not all dead,” and the time might have seemed opportune
for the prediction of some marvellous discovery, and for the great “religious”
event that was to follow in the career of Joe Smith! [p. 27]

This review comes down to the summer of 1827. A mysterious stranger
now appears at Smith’s residence, and holds private interviews with the
far-famed money-digger. For a considerable length of time no intimation of
the name or purpose of this personage transpired to the public, nor even to
Smith’s nearest neighbors. It was observed by some of them that his visits
were frequently repeated. The sequel of these private interviews between
the stranger and the money-digger wiU sufficiently appear hereafter."^^

About this time Smith had a remarkable vision. He pretended that,
while engaged in secret prayer, alone in the wilderness, an “angel of the

42. Tucker later identifies the stranger as Sidney Rigdon (pp. 75-76),
claiming that the Ohio preacher visited the Smiths in the “summer of 1827,”
about the time Joseph Jr. took the plates from the hiU, and again in July 1828
in connection with the loss of the manuscript (p. 48). Tucker does not reveal
his sources, but says of the stranger’s first appearance that “no intimation of
the name or purpose of this personage transpired to the public, nor even to
Smith’s nearest neighbors” (p. 28). Of the second visit, he similarly states:

“The reappearance of the mysterious stranger at Smith’s was again the subject
of inquiry and conjecture by observers, from whom was withheld all explana¬
tion of his identity of purpose” (p. 46). Thus at the time Tucker formulated
his thesis, no one could positively identify the stranger seen at the Smith resi¬
dence. Yet late statements by Smith neighbors, including Lorenzo Saunders,
who claimed to have helped Tucker prepare his book, claimed the Smiths
had freely identified the stranger as Sidney Rigdon (see IILB.12, LORENZO
SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884, 3-4; IILB.15, LOILENZO
SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 12 NOV 1884, 7; IILJ.12, ABEL D. CHASE
STATEMENT, 2 MAY 1879; IILJ.14, ANNA RUTH EATON STATE¬
MENT, 1881, 2). Saunders, however, had made his statements after a great
deal of hesitation and prodding by John H. Gilbert (see III. H. 4, JOHN H.
GILBERT TO JAMES T. COBB, 14 OCT 1879). It should be observed
that the Smiths were about this time visited by Josiah Stowell, Joseph Knight,
Sr., and Alvah Beaman.

100

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

Lord” appeared to him, with the glad tidings that “all his sins had been
forgiven,” and proclaiming further that “all the religious denominations were
believing in false doctrines, and consequently that none of them were
accepted of God as of His Church and Kingdom;” also that he had received
a “promise that the true doctrine and the fulness of the gospel should at some
future time be revealed to him.[”] Following this, soon came another angel,
(or possibly the same one,) reveahng to him that he was himself to be “the
favored instrument of the new revelation;” “that the American Indians were
a remnant of the Israelites, who, after coming to this country, had their
prophets and inspired writings; that such of their writings as had not been
destroyed were safely deposited in a cer[p. 28]tain place made known to him,
and to him only; that they contained revelations in regard to the last days,
and that, if he remained faithful, he would be the chosen prophet to translate
them to the world.

In the fall of the same year Smith had yet a more miraculous and
astonishing vision than any preceding one. He now arrogated to himself, by
authority of “the spirit of revelation,” and in accordance with the previous
“promises” made to him, a far higher sphere in the scale of human existence,
assuming to possess the gift and power of “prophet, seer, and revelator [cf
D&C 21:1].” On this assumption he announced to his family friends and the
bigoted persons who had adhered to his supernaturalism, that he was
“commanded,” upon a secretly fixed day and hour, to go alone to a certain
spot revealed to him by the angel, and there take out of the earth a metaUic
book of great antiquity in its origin, and of immortal importance in its
consequences to the world, which was a record, in mystic letters or
characters, of the long-lost tribes of Israel before spoken of, who had
primarily inhabited this continent, and which no human being besides
himself could see and hve; and the power to translate which to the nations
of the earth was also given to him only, as the chosen servant of God! This
was substantially, if not literally, the pretension of Smith, as related by himself,
and repeatedly quoted by his credulous friends at the time. [p. 29]

Much pains were taken by the Smith family and the prophet’s money¬
digging disciples to give wide circulation to the wonderful revelation, and
in great gravity to predict its marvellous fulfilment. It is unknown, however,
if the momentous announcement produced any sensation in the community,
though it is fair to presume that the victims of Smith’s former deceptive
practices regarded it with some seriousness.

Accordingly, when the appointed hour came, the prophet, assuming his

43. See I.A.17, ORSON PILATT ACCOUNT, 1840, 7.

101

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

practiced air of mystery, took in hand his money-digging spade and a large
napkin, and went off in silence and alone in the solitude of the forest, and
after an absence of some three hours, returned, apparently with his sacred
charge concealed within the folds of the napkin. Reminding the family of the
original “command” as revealed to him, strict injunction of non-intervention
and non-inspection was given to them, under the same terrible penalty as
before denounced for its violation. Conflicting stories were afterward told in
regard to the manner of keeping the book in concealment and safety, which
are not worth repeating, further than to mention that the first place of secre¬
tion was said to be under a heavy hearthstone in the Smith family mansion.

Smith told a frightful story of the display of celestial pyrotechnics on
the exposure to his view of the sacred book"^^ — the angel who had led him
to the discovery again appearing as his guide and protector, [p. 30] and
confronting ten thousand devils gathered there, with their menacing sul¬
phureous flame and smoke, to deter him from his purpose!"^^ This story was
repeated and magnified by the believers, and no doubt aided the experiment
upon superstitious minds which eventuated so successfully.

Mr. Willard Chase, a carpenter and joiner, was called upon by Smith
and requested to make a strong chest in which to keep the golden book under
lock and key, in order to prevent the awful calamity that would follow against
the person other than himself who should behold it with his natural eyes. He
could not pay a shilling for the work, and therefore proposed to make Mr.
Chase a sharer in the profits ultimately anticipated in some manner not defi¬
nitely stated; but the proposition was rejected — the work was refused on the
terms offered."^^ It was understood, however, that the custodian of the pre¬
cious treasure afterward in some way procured a chest for his purpose, which,
with its sacred deposit, was kept in a dark garret of his father’s house, where
the translations were subsequently made, as will be explained. An anecdote
touching this subject used to be related by William T. Hussey"^^ and Azel

44. See, for example, LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:67-
68; IV.A.l, JOSEPH KNIGHT, SR., REMINISCENCE, CIRCA 1835-
1847, 3.

45. See IILK.24, HEBER C. KIMBALL AUTOBIOGILAPHY, 1864.

46. See IILJ.24, ORSON SAUNDERS ILEMINISCENCE, 1893.

47. On Willard Chase (1798-1871), see introduction to III. A. 14, WIL¬
LARD CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11 DEC 1833.

48. See IILA.14, WILLARD CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11
DEC 1833, 245.

49. On WiUiam T. Hussy, see LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY,

1845, n. 222.

102

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

Vandruver.^^ They were notorious wags, and were intimately acquainted
with Smith. They called as his friends at his residence, and strongly impor¬
tuned him for an inspection of the “golden book,” offering to take upon
themselves [p. 31] the risk of the death-penalty denounced. Of course, the
request could not be complied with; but they were permitted to go to the
chest with its owner, and see where the thing was, and observe its shape and
size, concealed under a piece of thick canvas. Smith, with his accustomed
solemnity of demeanor, positively persisting in his refusal to uncover it,
Hussey became impetuous, and (suiting his action to his word) ejaculated,
“Egad! Til see the critter, live or die!” And stripping off the cover, a large
tile-brick was exhibited. But Smith’s fertile imagination was equal to the
emergency. He claimed that his friends had been sold by a trick of his; and
“treating” with the customary whiskey hospitalities, the affair ended in good¬
nature.

With the book was also found, or so pretended, a huge pair of spectacles
in a perfect state of preservation, or the Urim and Thummim, as afterward
in[p. 32]terpreted, whereby the mystic record was to be translated and the
wonderful dealings of God revealed to man, by the superhuman power of
Joe Smith. This spectacle pretension, however, is believed to have been
purely an after-thought, for it was not heard of outside of the Smith family
for a considerable period subsequent to the first story. So in regard to Smith’s
after-averment, that he had received a revelation of the existence of the
records in 1823, but was not permitted to touch or mention them until “the
fulness of time” should come for the great event, this idea was also a secondary
invention.

The marvellous metallic book and its accompaniment soon became a
common topic of conversation, far and near; but the sacred treasure was not
seen by mortal eyes, save those of the one annointed, until after the lapse of
a year or longer time, when it was found expedient to have a new revelation,
as Smith’s bare word had utterly failed to gain a convert beyond his original
circle of believers. By this amended revelation, the veritable existence of the
book was certified to by eleven witnesses of Smith’s selection. It was then
heralded as the Golden Bible, or Book of Mormon, and as the beginning of
a new gospel dispensation. Wonderful stories and predictions fol[p. 33]lowed
in regard to the future “light” and destiny of the world, but these were for
a time very crude and very conflicting, and therefore scarcely definable or

50. Azel Vandruver is listed among the members of Palmyra’s Mount
Moriah Lodge of Freemasons (see introduction to III.L.9, PALMYRA [NY]
MASONIC ILECORDS, 1827-1828).

103

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

worth repeating; and they had little attraction for public notice or curiosity.
The reader will be content with the narration of these things as they
ultimately took shape and system.

The spot from which the book is alleged to have been taken, is the yet
partially visible pit where the money speculators had previously dug for
another kind of treasure, which is upon the summit of what has ever since
been known as “Mormon Hill,” now owned by Mr. Anson Robinson, in
the town of Manchester, New York.^

This book of sacred records, after the dispersion of the first vague
reports concerning it, was finally described by Smith and his echoes as
consisting of metallic leaves or plates resembling gold, bound together in
a volume by three rings running through one edge of them, the leaves
opening like an ordinary paper book. The leaves were about the thickness
of common tin. Each leaf or plate was filled on both sides with engravings
of finely-drawn characters, which resembled Egyptian or other hieroglyph¬
ics. The Urim and Thummim, found with the records, were two trans¬
parent crystals set in the rims of a bow, in the form of spectacles of
enormous size. This constituted the seer’s instrument whereby the records
were to be [p. 34] translated and the mysteries of hidden things revealed,
and it was to supersede the further use of the magic stone. The entire
sacred acquisition was defivered into the hands of the prophet by the
heavenly messenger attending him, amid the awful surroundings already
stated, after the former had thrown up a few spadefuls of earth in pursuance
of the Lord’s command. Such was Smith’s ingenious story at the time,
the characterization of which is left for the reader.

Translations and interpretations were now entered upon by the
prophet, and manuscript specimens of these, with some of the literally
transcribed characters, were shown to people, including ministers and other
gentlemen of learning and influence. These translations purported to relate
to the history of scattered tribes of the earth, chiefly “Nephites” and
“Lamanites,” who, after the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel, had
been directed by the Lord across the sea to this then wilderness-land, where
they mostly perished by wars among themselves, and by pestilence and
famine, and from whose remnants sprang our North American Indians. They

51. Lorenzo Saunders also mentioned seeing the excavation on the
northeast side of the hill (see IILJ.20, LORENZO SAUNDERS TO
THOMAS GREGG, 28 JAN 1885).

52. Anson Robinson, who inherited the property at the death of his fa¬
ther RandaU Robinson, sold it to WiUiam T. Sampson in the 1870s (T. Cook
1930, 246).

104

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

were an attempted imitation of the Scripture style of composition, containing
some plagiarisms from the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, drawing
largely upon Isaiah and Jeremiah, and taking from Matthew nearly the whole
of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, with [p. 35] some alterations. The
manuscripts were in the handwriting of one Oliver Cowdery,^^ which had
been written down by him, as he and Smith declared, from the translations,
word for word, as made by the latter with the aid of the mammoth spectacles
or Urim and Thummim, and verbally announced by him from behind a
blanket-screen drawn across a dark corner of a room at his residence^"^ — for
at this time the original revelation, limiting to the prophet the right of seeing
the sacred plates, had not yet been changed, and the view with the instrument
used was even too brilliant for his own spiritualized eyes in the light! This
was the story of the first series of translations, which was always persisted in
by the few persons connected with the business at this early period of its
progress. The single significance of this theory will doubtless be manifest,
when the facts are stated in explanation, that Smith could not write in a
legible hand, and hence an amanuensis or scribe was necessary. Cowdery had
been a schoolmaster, and was the only man in the band who could make a
copy for the printer.

The manifest purpose of exhibiting these manuscripts in the manner
adopted, was to test the popular credulity in regard to their assumed divine
character; and also to determine, by the responses that should be elicited, as
to the practicability of carrying out a concocted design of printing the “new
Bible.” Among [p. 36] others, Mr. George Crane, of the adjoining town of
Macedon, a Quaker of intelligence, property, and high respectability (now
deceased), was called upon by Smith with several foolscap quires of these
so-called translations, for his perusal and opinion, and also for his pecuniary
aid to get the work through the press. The impious story, in all its extrava¬
gance and garniture, was related to him, to which he quietly listened to the
end. And then came the answer of the honest old Quaker, which was such
as would have been withering to the sensibility of an ordinary impostor —
though Smith was unmoved by it, for his spirit of determination was never

53. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow¬
dery Collection.”

54. According to Joseph Smith, the translation did not begin until after
his removal to Harmony, Pennsylvania (I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, 8-9).

55. George Crane, in his seventies, is listed in the 1830 census of
Macedon, Wayne County, New York (1830:101). See also III. K.14, JOHN
BAITBER AND HENRY HOWE ACCOUNT, 1841.

105

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

known to yield consentingly to any adverse human influence. Sternly rebuk¬
ing Smith’s pretensions, and denouncing them as in a high degree blasphe¬
mous and wicked, Mr. Crane kindly but earnestly admonished him, for his
own good, to desist from his criminal pursuit, warning him that persistence
therein would be certain to end in his death upon the gallows, or in some
equally ignominious manner. How far this friendly warning was made pro¬
phetic, by the murderous catastrophe occurring fifteen years afterward, in
Illinois, is a question respectfully submitted to the reader, [p. 37]

Undaunted by any rebuffs. Prophet Smith persisted in his grand design,
and, by the power of his expanding genius, secured a few devoted followers
in this incipiency of his new revelation — proving that, in his case, “the
prophet” was not wholly “without honor” even in his “own country.” Here
may be recognized the first budding of the Mormon organization, or
“Church of Latter-Day Saints.”

These pioneer Mormon disciples, so far as their names can now be
recollected, were as follows, viz.: Oliver Cowdery, Samuel Lawrence,
Martin Harris, Preserved Harris, Peter Ingersoll,^^ Charles Ford,^^ George
Proper^^ and his wife Dolly,^^ of Palmyra; Ziba Peterson, and Calvin

56. See IILJ.15, STEPHEN S. HARDING TO THOMAS GREGG,
FEB 1882, 40; IILK.14, JOHN BARBER AND HENRY HOWE AC¬
COUNT, 1841; and IILD.7, JOSEPH ROGERS STATEMENT, 16 MAY
1887.

57. On Samuel F. Lawrence, see LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY,
1845, n. 147.

58. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

59. On Preserved Harris (1785-1867), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 48.

60. On Peter Ingersoll, see introduction to IILA.9, PETER INGER-
SOLL STATEMENT, 2 DEC 1833.

61. Charles Ford, over forty-five years of age, is listed in the 1820 cen¬
sus of Palmyra, Ontario County, New York (1820:336). Apparently he was
the son of Calvin Ford (McIntosh 1877, 208c).

62. On George Proper, see IILB.12, LORENZO SAUNDERS IN¬
TERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884, n. 14.

63. Lorenzo Saunders mentioned seeing Oliver Cowdery baptize
Dolly Proper (IILB.12, LOILENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP
1884, n. 38).

64. On Ziba Peterson (?-1849), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 105.

106

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

Stoddard^^ and his wife Sophronia,^^ of Macedon; Ezra Thayer,^’ of
Brighton; Luman Walters,^* ofPultneyville; Hiram Page,^^ of [P- 38] Fayette;
David Whitmer,^® Jacob Whitmer,^^ Christian Whitmer,^^ John Whitmer,^^
and Peter Whitmer, Jr.,’'* of Phelps^^; Simeon Nichols,^*’ of Farmington;
William Stafford, Joshua Stafford,^* Gad Stafford, David Fish,^^ Abram

65. On Calvin Stoddard (1801-36), see IIIJ.7, STEPHEN S. HARD¬
ING TO POMEROY TUCKER, 1 JUN 1867, n. 9.

66. On Sophronia Smith (1803-67), see I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 16.

67. On Ezra Thayre (1791-?), see introduction to III.J.6, EZICA
THAYRE REMINISCENCE, 1862. Thayre lived near Canandaigua, On¬
tario County, New York, not in Brighton, Monroe County, New York, as
Tucker states.

68. On Luman Walters (c. 1788-1860), see III.E.3, PALMYRA RE¬
FLECTOR, 1829-1831, n. 21.

69. On Hiram Page (1800-52), see introduction to VI.C.l, HIRAM
PAGE TO WILLIAM MCLELLIN, 30 MAY 1847.

70. On David Whitmer (1805-88), see “Introduction to David Whit¬
mer Collection.”

71. On Jacob Whitmer (1800-56), see LA. 15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 98.

72. On Christian Whitmer (1798-1835), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 96.

73. On John Whitmer (1802-78), see “Introduction to John Whitmer
Collection.”

74. On Peter Whitmer, Jr. (1809-36), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 63.

75. The Whitmers were from Fayette, New York, not Phelps.

76. There are two Simeon Nichols listed in the 1820 census of Farm¬
ington, Ontario County, both between twenty-six and forty-five years of age
(1820:309, 317).

77. On William Stafford, see introduction to III. A. 13, WILLIAM
STAFFORD STATEMENT, 8 DEC 1833.

78. On Joshua Stafford (1798-1876), see introduction to III. A. 4,
JOSHUA STAFFORD STATEMENT, 15 NOV 1833.

79. This person remains unidentified.

80. David Fish, over forty-five years of age, is listed in the 1820 census
of Phelps, Ontario County, New York (1820:300).

107

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

Fish,^^ Robert Orr,^^ King H. Quance,^^ John Morgan, Orrin Rockwell
and his wife Caroline, Widow Sally Risley,^^ and all the remainder of the
Smith family, of Manchester.

It is beheved that this list embraces all the persons residing at or near
the prime seat of the Mormon advent, who from first to last made a
profession of behef either in the money-digging or golden bible finding
pretensions of Joseph Smith, Jr.; and probably, indeed, not more than
one-half of these can be said to have been genuine converts under the
one head or the other. It is to be added in this connection, however, that
a man of the name of Parley P. Pratt,^^ of Lorain County, Ohio, who,
on hearing of the new religion, after the Mormon book was printed (as
he said in explanation of his movement), stopped off a canal-boat at
Palmyra, and at Smith’s residence embraced the Mormon faith, and joined
the organization which had then been imperfectly inaugurated. He was a
member of an association of anti-sectarians, mostly dissenters from different
religious denominations, whose place of worship was at Mentor, Ohio.

81. On Abraham Fish (c. 1773-1845), see IILL4, NATHANIEL W.
HOWELL AND OTHERS TO ANCIL BEACH, JAN 1832, n. 3.

82. Robert Orr, in his fifties, is listed in the 1830 census of Seneca,
Ontario County, New York (1830:66). He was the stepfather of Christopher
and Cornelius Stafford (see IILD.3, CHRISTOPHER M. STAFFORD
STATEMENT, 23 MAR 1885).

83. King H. Quance, in his fifties, is listed in the 1840 census of Mace-
don, Wayne County, New York (1840:169).

84. Perhaps John Morgan, over forty-five years of age, listed in the
1820 census of Lima, Ontario County, New York (1820:366).

85. Evidently a confused reference to Orrin Porter Rockwell and his
sister Caroline, both of whom were baptized on 9 June 1830. Their parents
were Orin and Sarah (Witt) Rockwell (Sarah was baptized on or about 6
April 1830, but Orin delayed his baptism until after the family had moved to
Ohio in 1831). On Orrin Porter Rockwell (1813-78), see LA.15, JOSEPH
SMITH HISTORY, 1839, n. 119; on Caroline Rockwell (1812-87), see in¬
troduction to IILD.5, CAROLINE ROCKWELL SMITH STATEMENT,
25 MAR 1885.

86. Possibly the same “Mrs. Risley, of Manchester, a cripple,” men¬
tioned by Christopher M. Stafford, whom the “Prophet Jo told ... he could
heal her and she joined the Mormons. Jo failed to heal her and she never
walked” (see IILD.3, CHRISTOPHER M. STAFFOPD STATEMENT,

23 MAR 1885).

87. Parley P. Pratt (1807-57), see introduction to IILK.16, PARLEY
P. PILATT AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PART I), CIRCA 1854.

108

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

“Rev. Sidney Rigdon”^^ was the regular minister of this congregation;
though Pratt himself had done something [p. 39] in the way of preaching
there and elsewhere, and was aspiring to still higher position in the clerical
vocation. The latter, with his spiritual guide Rigdon, afterward went with
the first emigrants to Kirtland, and, continuing his association with the
new sect, immediately became a prominent and efficient co-worker in its
priesthood, and was subsequently an important spoke in the Mormon hi¬
erarchy at Salt Lake.^^

How many of the preceding list of pioneer “Latter-Day Saints” at
Palmyra and vicinity remained faithful, or took more than the first degree in
the new institution, is now unknown to the writer. It is recollected that at
least a portion, perhaps the majority of them, became backsliders after a very
brief experience.

The proposition to publish the new revelation was as yet an adjourned
question. Martin Harris enthusiastically favored it, and he was the man
calculated on for the means of payment for the printing. He was one of the
earliest, if not, in truth, the only real believer. He was a religious monoma¬
niac, reading the Scriptures intently, and could probably repeat from memory
nearly every text of the Bible from beginning to end, giving the chapter and
verse in each case. His superstition and cupidity were both ap[p. 40]pealed
to in this matter. Though he unreservedly gave in his adhesion to the book
as of divine appointment, he was by no means so prompt in his willingness
to bear the whole cost of printing it, for he was proverbially a covetous,
money-loving man, but an honest and benevolent one. His habit had been
to look out for the best chances in a bargain, and it was natural that he should
desire further opportunity for examination and consideration, and also for
trying his influence in proselyting — the latter object being with a view to
judging of the question of reimbursement, should he advance the money
required — and he was accordingly permitted to take the manuscript transla¬
tions into his possession. Reading a portion of them to his wife, a Quakeress
of positive qualities, she denounced the whole performance as silly and
impious. His neighbors and friends, whom he importuned and bored on the

88. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to LA. 13, SID¬
NEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

89. Footnote in original reads: “The reader, as he pursues this history,
will discover the bearing of the coincidence here referred to, upon the ques¬
tions of the literary origin and prime invention of the ‘Golden Bible.’”

Tucker refers here to his discussion of the Spaulding theory of the Book of
Mormon’s origin (pp. 111-28), which has been deleted from this reproduc¬
tion.

109

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

subject, uniformly expressed the same sentiment and belief, and cautioned
him against being imposed upon and defrauded.

But this opposition served only to strengthen Harris’s profession of faith
and increase his inclination to make the printing investment. Yet he
evidenced some method in his madness, for, before doing so, he sought out
the “^visdom of learned men,” as he said, relative to the genuineness of the
revelation and discovery. He accordingly procured from Smith some resem¬
blances of antique characters or hieroglyphics [p. 41] purporting to be exact
copies from the plates; ^vhich, together with the translations in his possession,
he carried to New York City, where he sought for them the interpretation
and bibliological scrutiny of such scholars as Hon. Luther Bradish,^^ Dr.
Mitchell, Professor Anthon,^^ and others. All the gentlemen applied to were
understood to have scouted the whole pretence as too depraved for serious
attention, while commiserating the applicant as the victim of fanaticism or
insanity.

Harris, nevertheless, stood firm in his position, regarding these unto¬
ward results merely as ‘‘proving the lack of wisdom” on the part of the
rejecters, and also as illustrating the truth of his favorite quotation, that “God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.” This was
always his self-convincing argument in reply to similar adversity in his
fanatical pursuit.

The following is Professor Anthon’s account of Harris’s interview with
him, as given and published a few years afterward. It was addressed in a letter
to a friend in reply to inquiries. ...^^

Harris appears not to have presented the “translations” with the
hieroglyphics to Professor Anthon, or if so, the immaterial fact had left too
slight an impression for his recollection at the time of writing the above
statement.

The pursuer after knowledge returned home, confirmed rather than
shaken in his belief; for he had taken the sensible^conclusions of the “learned
men” he had seen by the rule of contraries, declaring in a boastful spirit that

90. On Luther Bradish (1783-1863), see III.H.IO, JOHN H. GIL¬
BERT MEMORANDUM, 8 SEP 1892, n. 19.

91. On Samuel L. Mitchell (1764-1831), see 1.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 45.

92. On Charles Anthon (1797-1867), see introduction to V.D.2,
CHARLES ANTHON TO E. D. HOWE, 17 FEB 1834.

93. Tucker’s reprint of Anthon’s letter to E. D. Howe (pp. 42-45) is
here deleted (see V.D.2, CHARLES ANTHON TO E. D. HOWE, 17 FEB
1834).

110

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

God had enabled him, an unlearned man as he was, to “confound worldly
wisdom.” He had apparently become seized with the Golden Bible mania
beyond redemption. It was his constant theme wherever he appeared,
rendering him, by his readings and commentaries, an object both of sympathy
and dread to his friends and all whom he met.

As might have been anticipated, Harris’s wife became exceedingly
annoyed and disgusted with what she called her husband’s “craziness.” She
foresaw, as she thought, that if he incurred the printing liability, as he had
avowed to her his purpose of doing, the event would be the ruin of himself
and family, [p. 45] Thus exercised, she contrived, in her husband’s sleep, to
steal from him the particular source of her disturbance, and burned the
manuscript to ashes. For years she kept this incendiarism a profound secret
to herself, even until after the book was published. Smith and Harris held
her accountable for the theft, but supposed she had handed the manuscript
to some “evil-designing persons” to be used somehow in injuring their cause.
A feud was thus produced between husband and wife, which was never
reconciled.^"^

Great consternation now pervaded the Mormon circles. The reappear¬
ance of the mysterious stranger at Smith’s was again the subject of inquiry
and conjecture by observers, from whom was withheld all explanation of his
identity or purpose. It was not at first an easy task to convince the prophet
of the entire innocency of his trusted friend Harris in the matter of this
calamitous event, though mutual confidence and friendship were ultimately
restored. The great trouble was, the lost translations could not be replaced,
or at least such apparently was the difficulty. It might be supposed that, with
his golden plates and spectacles before him, and with the benefit of the divine
aid as he claimed, the prophet could easily have supplied a duplicate; and so
he doubtless would have done had he really been the translator or original
author of the composition. To explain his inability to reproduce the missing
pages, he said he had received [p. 46] a revelation of the Lord’s displeasure
for his imprudence in placing them in Harris’s hands, and on this account
forbidding his rewriting the same [D&C 10]; and another reason for this
interdiction was, that his enemies had obtained possession of the manuscripts,
and altered them with a view of “confounding him” and embarrassing his
great work of enlightenment and salvation! He and Harris were undoubtedly
led to suppose that the lost manuscripts remained in existence, and might
somehow be used for the object assigned, [p. 47]

94. See III.L.16, BOOK OF MORMON PILEFACE, 1829.

95. See n. 42 above.

Ill

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

The loss of the first translations checked for a time the progress of
Mormon events. But Smith, Harris, and their abiding associates were
seemingly undismayed. Some six months passed when the announcement
was given out that a new and complete translation of the Book of Mormon
had been made by the prophet, which was ready for the press. In the interim
the stranger before spoken of had again been seen at Smith’s; and the prophet
had been away from home, may-be to repay the former’s visits. The bearing
of these circumstances upon any important question can only be left to
reasonable conjecture in reference to the subsequent developments. The
second manuscripts, like the first, were in Cowdery’s handwriting.

The work of translation this time had been done in the recess of a dark
artificial cave, which Smith had caused to be dug in the east side of the
forest-hill [p. 48] near his residence, now owned by Mr. Amos Miner. At
least such was one account given out by the Mormon fraternity; though
another version was, that the prophet continued to pursue his former mode
of translating behind the curtain at his house, and only went into the cave
to pay his spiritual devotions and seek the continued favor of Divine Wisdom.
His stays in the cave varied from fifteen minutes to an hour or over — the
entrance meanwhile being guarded by one or more of his disciples. This
ceremony scarcely attracted the curiosity of outsiders, though it was occa¬
sionally witnessed by men and boys living near the scene.

This excavation was at the time said to be one hundred and sixty feet
in extent, though that is probably an exaggeration. It had a substantial door
of two-inch plank, secured by a corresponding lock. From the lapse of time
and natural causes the cave has been closed for years, very little mark of its
former existence remaining to be seen.

Encouraged by the continued favoring hallucination of Harris, an active
canvass was now commenced by the Mormons for the printing. Harris was
the only man of property or credit known in all Mormondom; and, as will
appear, he happened to be exactly the appropriate subject for the prophet’s
designs; for without his timely aid and pecuniary sacrifice the Golden Bible
would probably have remained forever an un[p. 49]published romance. And,
as has already been intimated, he alone was depended upon for the means to
pay for its printing, for no other man of the whole Mormon tribe could have
raised a dollar of his own money for that or any other object. He was a
prosperous, independent farmer, strictly upright in his business dealings, and,

96. See IILB.12, LORENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP
1884, 8; IILB.15, LOILENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 12 NOV 1884,

112

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

although evidencing good qualifications in the affairs of his industrial calling,
yet he was the slave of the peculiar religious fanaticism controlling his mental
organization. “Marvellousness” being his predominating phrenological de¬
velopment, he was noted for the betrayal of vague superstitions — a belief in
dreams, ghosts, hobgoblins, “special providences,” terrestrial visits of angels,
the interposition of “devils” to afflict sinful men, etc. He was the son of
Nathan Harris, an early settler in Palmyra, and aged about forty-three years.
His family consisted of a wife, one son, and two daughters.

This was the position of Martin Harris in the community at this
important turning-period in his life and career. In June, 1829,^^ Smith the
prophet, his brother Hyrum, Cowdery the scribe, and Harris the believer,
applied to Mr. Egbert B. Grandin,^^ then publisher of the Wayne Sentinel at
Palmyra (now deceased), for his price to do the work of one edition of three
thousand copies. Harris offered to pay or secure payment if a bargain should
be made. Only a few sheets of [p. 50] the manuscript, as a specimen, with
the title-page, were exhibited at this time, though the whole number of folios
was stated, whereby could be made a calculation of the cost. Mr. Grandin at
once expressed his disinclination to entertain the proposal to print at any
price, believing the whole affair to be a wicked imposture and a scheme to
defraud Mr. Harris, who was his friend, and whom he advised accordingly.
This admonition was kindly but firmly resisted by Harris, and resented with
assumed pious indignation by the Smiths, Cowdery taking little or no part
in the conversation. Some further parleying followed, Harris resolutely
persisting in his deafness to the friendly expressions of regard from Mr.
Grandin, and also from several other well-disposed neighbors happening to
be present at the interview, who vainly united in the effort to dissuade him
from his purpose. Afterward, however, it was thought Harris became for a
time in some degree staggered in his confidence; but nothing could be done
in the way of printing without his aid, and so the prophet persevered in his
spell-binding influence and seductive arts, as will be seen, with ultimate
success. Further interviews followed, Grandin being earnestly importuned
to reconsider his opinion and determination. He was assured by Harris, that

97. The children of Martin and Lucy Harris were Doty L. (1812-15),
George W. (c. 1814-64), and Lucy (c.l816-c. 1841) {Utah Genealogical and
Historical Magazine 26 [July 1935]: 108).

98. On the date of Smith’s application to Grandin, see LA. 15,

JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 26, 34; and III.H.IO, JOHN H. GIL¬
BERT MEMORANDUM, 8 SEP 1892.

99. On Egbert B. Grandin (1806-45), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 77.

113

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

if he refused to do the work, it would be procured elsewhere. And the subject
was temporarily dropped, except that Grandin complied with Harris’s [p. 51]
request for an approximate estimate of the cost of the proposed edition.

Immediately thereafter, the same Mormon party, or a portion of them,
applied to Mr. Thurlow Weed, of the Anti-Masonic Inquirer at Rochester,
from whom they met a similar repulse. Mr. Weed’s own words in regard to
the manuscript and the printing proposal are: “After reading a few chapters,
it seemed such a jumble of unintelligible absurdities, that we refused the
work, advising Harris not to mortgage his farm and beggar his family.” Mr.
Elihu F. Marshall, a book publisher, also at Rochester, was then applied to,
and he gave his terms for the printing and binding of the book, with his
acceptance of the proffered mode of security for the payment.^

Whereupon, the “saints” returned to Palmyra, and renewed their
request to Mr. Grandin, reassuring him that the work was to be done at any
rate, and pleading that they would be saved much inconvenience and cost
of travel to have the printing done at Palmyra, where they lived, especially
as the manuscripts were to be delivered and the proof-sheets examined daily
by them at the printing-office.

It was upon this statement of the facts, and in this view of the case, that
Mr. Grandin, on taking the advice of several discreet, fair-minded neighbors,
finally reconsidered his course of policy, and entered into contract for the
printing and binding of five thousand [p. 52] copies of the Book of Mormon
at the price of $3,000, taking Harris’s bond and mortgage as offered in security
for payment. The contract was faithfully and satisfactorily fulfilled by both
parties, and the book in its entire edition as bargained for was completed and
delivered early in the summer of 1830.^^^

In the beginning of the printing the Mormons professed to hold their
manuscripts as “sacred,” and insisted upon maintaining constant vigilance for
their safety during the progress of the work,^^^ each morning carrying to the
printing-office the instalment required for the day, and withdrawing the same

100. Compare IILJ.5, POMEROY TUCKER REMINISCENCE,
1858; see also IILK.17, THURLOW WEED REMINISCENCES, 1854,
1858, 1880 & 1884.

101. See IILL.14, MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829.

102. While the Book of Mormon was ready for sale in March 1830,
evidently the entire run of the first edition was not completed until the early
summer of 1830.

103. According to John H. Gilbert, twenty-four pages were brought
to Grandin’s office each day (e.g., IILF.2, JOHN H. GILBERT TO JAMES
T. COBB, 10 FEB 1879).

114

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

at evening. No alteration from copy in any manner was to be made. These
things were “strictly commanded,” as they said. Mr. John H. Gilbert, as
printer, had the chief operative trust of the type-setting and press-work of
the job. After the first day’s trial he found the manuscripts in so very imperfect
a condition, especially in regard to grammar, that he became unwilling
further to obey the “command,” and so announced to Smith and his party;
when, finally, upon much friendly expostulation, he was given a limited
discretion in correcting, which was exercised in the particulars of syntax,
orthography, punctuation, capitalizing, paragraphing, etc. Many errors under
these heads, nevertheless, escaped correction, as appear in the first edition of
the printed book. Very soon, too — after some ten days — the constant
vigilance by the [p. 53] Mormons over the manuscripts was relaxed by reason
of the confidence they came to repose in the printers. Mr. Gilbert has now
in his possession a complete copy of the book in the original sheets, as laid
off by him from the press in working.

It may be due to the memory of Mr. Grandin, in relation to this Golden
Bible printing contract, to mention the fact that Mrs. Harris, who had so
strenuously objected to her husband’s fanatical course, fully conceded the
propriety of Mr. Grandin’s action under the circumstances as they existed.

Meanwhile, Harris and his wife had separated by mutual arrangement,
on account of her persistent unbelief in Mormonism and refusal to be a party
to the mortgage. The family estate was divided, Harris giving her about
eighty acres of the farm, with a comfortable house and other property as her
share of the assets; and she occupied this property until the time of her
death. The main farm and homestead, about one hundred and fifty acres
of land, was retained by himself, the mortgage covering only this portion;
but Mormonism, more than farming or other business, ever afterward
engaged his attention, and this was the beginning of adversity which
ultimately reduced him to poverty.

The farm mortgaged was sold by Harris in 1831 at private sale, not by
foreclosure, and a sufficiency of the avails went to pay Grandin — though it
is pre[p. 54]sumed Harris might have paid the $3,000 without the sale of the

104. See III.H.IO, JOHN H. GILBERT MEMORANDUM, 8 SEP

1892.

105. On 29 November 1825, Martin Harris deeded eighty acres of
land to his brother-in-law, Peter Harris, who in turn deeded the land to Lucy
Harris on the same day. Tucker is therefore incorrect in connecting the Har¬
rises’ division of property with their separation over Mormonism (see Gun¬
nell 1955, 95-96; James 1983, 124 n. 99; see also introduction to III. L. 14,
MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829).

115

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

farm.^^^ This was among the best properties of the kind in the town. Most
of it, including the homestead portion, is the same now owned by Mr.
Thomas Chapman, a mile and a half north of the village of Palmyra.

As will be seen, Harris was led to believe that the book would be a
profitable speculation for him, and very likely in this may be traced his leading
motive for taking the venture. He was vouchsafed the security of a “special
revelation” commanding that the new Bible should in no instance be sold
at a less price than “ten shillings,” and that he himself should have the
exclusive right of sale, with aU the avails — the only purpose of the Mormon
saints being the unselfish one to “get the great light before the world for the
salvation of mankind!” Indeed, he figured up the profits with aU the certainty
of their realization, that the most enthusiastic calculator would feel in
“counting his chickens before they are hatched.” Like thousands of fortunes
made on paper, this process by Harris was an easy matter, thus: 5,000 books
at $1.25 per book, $6,250. First cost, $3,000. Showing a clear speculation of
over one hundred per cent upon the investment!

In October following (1829), the printing was considerably advanced,
and the ultimate issue of the Book of Mormon had become a fixed fact. The
print[p. 55]ing was done upon a hand-press, and the type of one form had
to be distributed before another could be set up; and of course this will
account for the tardiness of the work. But the first and second books of
“Nephi,” and some other portions of the forthcoming revelation, were
printed in sheets; — and armed with a copy of these. Smith commenced other
preparations for a mission to Pennsylvania, where he had some relatives
residing, and where the before-mentioned “Rev. Sidney Rigdon” was then
residing or temporarily sojourning. His wardrobe needed replenishing, and
Harris, who was abundantly able to do as he did, and withal counting on his
prospective profits in the bible speculation, procured for him a new black
suit, remarking to the merchant of whom he bought the cloth, that as the
prophet was going on a mission to preach the new gospel, it was necessary
that he should “appear comely before men;” and consequently ordered the
best pattern in the store. Mr. David S. Aldrich,^^^ now prominent dry-goods

106. Harris sold about 150 acres of his land to Thomas Lakey for
$3,000 on 7 April 1831 (see IILL.14, MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE,

25 AUG 1829).

107. Rigdon was in Perry, Ohio, in October 1829 (see E. L. Kelley in
RLDS Journal ofHistoryy 3:16-20).

108. David S. Aldrich came to Palmyra in the 1820s. He was a clerk
for “Lovett & Havens” and for “Sexton & Butterfield.” Thomas L. Cook
states that “while a clerk in the post office, then situated in a dry goods store.

116

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

merchant in Palmyra, sold the cloth as a clerk at that time. The result was,
that in November, Smith went to Northern Pennsylvania, as previously
appointed, where he married the daughter of Isaac Hale,^^^ and was baptized
after the Mormon ritual^ — Rigdon being the “match-maker” and the
officiating “clergyman” in these celebrations. Mr. Hale, the father-in-law,
never became a Mormon, [p. 56]

Smith soon returned to Palmyra, to complete his grand design, having
made on this occasion, so far as known, no sensation as a preacher, nor any
progress in his proselyting mission beyond his nuptial capture, [p. 57]

The newly revealed gospel having been opened to the world in a
printed book. Prophet Smith and his disciples proceeded to a more perfect
organization of their church for its practice and dissemination. This cere¬
mony, conducted with apparent seriousness by the prophet, supported on
the right and left by Cowdery and Harris — of which it is now too late to
give the full particulars from memory — took place in the dwelling-house of
Joseph Smith, Sr., in the month of June, 1830.^^^ There was no praying,
singing, or preaching attempted, but Joseph gave various readings and
interpretations of the new bible. The senior Smith was installed “Patriarch
and President of the Church of Latter-Day Saints;”^^^ while Cowdery and
Harris were nominated vicegerents [viceregents] to the prophet, or dignitar¬
ies of equivalent import, and a limited commission of priesthood and
prophecy was conferred [p. 58] upon them by the prophet, accompanied by
the “laying on of hands” and other ceremonious observances, adding great
“promises” of future spiritual endowment, to depend in an essential manner

he [Aldrich] sold to the Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith, his first decent suit
of cloths.” About 1850 Aldrich himself opened a dry goods business. He died
in 1882 at Palmyra (T. Cook 1930, 77, 125).

109. Joseph Knight also has Smith coming to live with him in Coles-
viUe in November 1826 (IV.A.l, JOSEPH KNIGHT, SR., ILEMINIS-
CENCE, CIRCA 1835-1847, 2), but Smith did not marry Emma Hale until
18 January 1827.

110. Joseph Smith was baptized by Oliver Cowdery at Harmony,
Pennsylvania, on 15 May 1829.

111. Compare III.J.5, POMEROY TUCKER REMINISCENCE,
1858. Emma Smith specifically denied this accusation (see I.F.3, EMMA
SMITH BIDAMON INTERVIEW WITH JOSEPH SMITH III, FEB
1879, 289).

112. Probably a reference to the church organization on 6 April 1830.

113. Joseph Smith, Sr., was ordained Patriarch of the Church on 18
December 1833 (L. Cook 1981, 11). However, the church was not known as
the “Church of the Latter Day Saints” until 1834.

117

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

on their fidelity and efficiency in the trust already reposed in them.

The participants generally in this incipient church inauguration were
the individuals named as the pioneer saints in a preceding chapter, with
perhaps few changes pro and con. The rite of baptism by immersion was
administered by the prophet to Cowdery and Harris at their particular
request — a pool for that purpose having been created by constructing a dam
across the brook near the place of meeting^ and then the other baptisms
on this occasion were conducted by Cowdery, including in these benefits
both the aged parents of the revelator, Page, Mrs. Rockwell, Dolly Proper,
and several of the Whitmer brothers. So far as can be recollected of the
proceedings, as verbally reported at the time, no others were then baptized;
but afterward this baptismal service was extended to all the saints who had
not already been the favored subjects of that ritual, Cowdery continuing to
officiate in these solemnities.

The prophet himself was not baptized in this instance, the explanation
of the omission being, as stated by some of the faithful, that he was elevated
far above “worldly baptism” by reason of his “spiritual sphere;” but another
account — doubtless the ac[p. 59]cepted one — assigned as the reason in the
case that he had previously received the ordinance in Pennsylvania by the
ministration of “Brother Rigdon,”^^^ and was the first Mormon baptized
since the times of the primitive Nephites.

A few days after this preliminary launching of the Mormon ship

114. On the location of the 6 April 1830 baptisms of Joseph Smith,

Sr., and Martin Harris, see IILJ.35, THOMAS L. COOK HISTORY, 1930,
220. However, Cowdery had been baptized by Joseph Smith, Jr., on 15 May
1829 (see IILG.6, OLIVER COWDERY TO W. W. PHELPS, 7 SEP 1834,
15-16; LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 17-18; LB. 5, LUCY
SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:94).

115. Of this list, those baptized by Oliver Cowdery at Manchester
were Martin Harris and Joseph Smith, Sr., on 6 April 1830; Lucy Smith and
Sarah Rockwell, on 8 or 9 April; and Dolly Proper, several months later (see
LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 38; DILAFT:9-10; IILB.13,
BENJAMIN SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, CIRCA SEP 1884, 27; IILB.12,
LOPffiNZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884, 12 [back]; IILB.15,
LOPffiNZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 12 NOV 1884, 7). Page and the
Whitmers were baptized in Fayette (see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, 23, 39).

116. Smith had been baptized by Oliver Cowdery on 15 May 1829
(see IILG.6, OLIVER COWDERY TO W. W. PHELPS, 7 SEP 1834, 15-
16; LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 17-18; LB.5, LUCY
SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:94).

118

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

Zion — this primeval foundation of the Mormon theocracy — some ten or
t^velve of the saints went to Fayette, in an adjoining county, where similar
observances were had in the formation of a church. There were about thirty
persons in attendance on this occasion, believers and spectators, and a number
of new converts were reported, Cowdery again performing the baptismal
service. But, finally, it was found that the prophet’s own country was an
unfavorable locality for success in this wonderful religious speculation; the
new gospel was held in light repute by the “Gentile” people; conversions
did not come up to the anticipations of the leaders; and in the course of the
same year these pioneer Mormons emigrated to Ohio.

Now, let the reader’s attention be carried back to the commencement
of the Golden Bible publication. The book, as a money-making enterprise,
fell dead before the public. As a religious demonstration, it was received by
the community as “stale, flat, and fulsome.” It was repulsive to the popular
common-sense, and, beyond the minds of its preexistent devotees, simply
awakened contempt and ridicule. It [p. 60] found no buyers, or but very few.
So that the glittering visions of Harris and others, who might have thought
as he had done, seemed to turn out as illusory as had been those of Smith’s
money-digging dupes. Hence another “command” became necessary in
regard to the sale of the book, after a few weeks’ faithful but unsuccessful
trial of the market by Harris as a monopolist salesman. This was easily
called down by Smith in favor of his patriarch father. Time passed, and yet
the disappointment was unalleviated. The patriarch having been permitted
by this changed revelation, with the consent of Harris, to appropriate a
portion of the avails of sales toward his family necessities, he effected some
sales, chiefly in barter trades, on accommodating terms for the purchasers of
the books, always nominally maintaining the revealed price of ten shillings,
to avoid the awful penalty of “instant death” for any departure from it.^^^

117. Tucker’s footnote reads: “Harris was proverbially a peaceful as
well as an honest man. He was slow to retaliate an offence. The following an¬
ecdote will show what manner of man he was. Urging the sale of the book
with pertinacious confidence in the genuineness of the Smith revelation, he
fell into debate about its character with a neighbor of an irascible tempera¬
ment. His opponent became angry, and struck him a severe blow upon the
right side of his face. Instantly turning toward the assailant the other check,
he quoted the Christian maxim, reading it from the book in his hand, page
481 (as it also appears in Matthew [5:39]): ‘Whosoever shall smite thee on the
right cheek, turn to him the other also [3 Nephi 12:39].’”

118. The terms of the agreement were reversed from what Tucker de¬
scribes. Rather than Harris agreeing to share his profits with Joseph Sr., it is
Smith who agrees to give Harris “an equal privilege with me & my friends.”

119

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

Pedes[p. 61]trian peddling jaunts were made in the neighboring villages and
surrounding country, and books peddled off by him in exchange for various
articles of farmers’ produce and shop merchandise, such as “wouldn’t come
amiss for family use in hard times.” In this way considerable improvement
was made in the old “saint’s” exchequer. Harris, meanwhile, seemed to stand
firm in his adhesion to the book’s divinity, and always had at his tongue’s
end an amplitude of scriptural and Mormonic quotations of “promises,”
giving satisfactory assurance of his ultimate pecuniary and spiritual salvation.

Many appropriate incidents might be related from the memory of
individuals yet living at the original scene of this blooming of the Mormon
Church, illustrative of the shallowness of the great imposture; but which,
given in detail, would surfeit the reader’s curiosity. A single anecdote will
suffice to show the degree of sincerity attached to the pretended “command¬
ment price” of the book.

The Patriarch and President of the Mormon Church [Joseph Smith,
Sr.] was now preparing to remove with his family to Ohio, where the
Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum, with others of the faith, had already
preceded them,^^^ and it was necessary to procure some articles of outfit. In
pursuance of this object, he took a basket of “bibles” in his hand and walked
to Palmyra village, where he had usually done his small [p. 62] traffic, and
where sundry unadjusted little scores were ready to confront him, which his
overplus book avails and other resources had been insufficient to liquidate.
By the then prevailing legal system for the collection of debts (residing, as
he did, over the county line from Palmyra), he made himself liable to suit
by warrant and also detention in imprisonment for non-payment. But
necessity being his master, he had taken the incautious venture, and soon
found himself in the constable’s custody at the suit of a creditor for a small
book account. The parties appeared before A. R. Tiffany, Esq.,^^^ a justice
of the peace for Wayne County, by whom the warrant had been issued. After
some preliminary parleying by the debtor, he invited and enjoyed a private

Moreover, the date of the agreement is 16 January 1830, two months before
the Book of Mormon was released for sale (see IILL.17, JOSEPH SMITH,
SR., AND MARTIN HARRIS AGREEMENT, 16 JAN 1830).

119. Hyrum accompanied his father to Ohio in the spring of 1831.

120. Alexander R. Tiffany, in his thirties, is listed in the 1830 census
of Palmyra, Wayne County, New York (1830:41). A practicing attorney
(e.g., Wayne Sentinel^ 30 August 1825), Tiffany was justice of the peace for
Wayne County in 1823 and 1826 (McIntosh 1877, 140, 143). Thus far, there
is no contemporary evidence for the case involving Joseph Smith, Sr., as de¬
scribed by Tucker.

120

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

interview with the creditor in an adjoining room. The debt and costs had
now reached the aggregate of $5.63. The embarrassments in the case, after
some brief discussion, were found to be of a difficult nature. At last, laying
the good-natured claimant under strict confidential injunction, and referring
with solemn air to the “command” by which he was empowered to sell his
Mormon work only at the price of $1.25 per copy, the crafty “patriarch”
proposed, nevertheless, on the express condition that his perfidy should not
be exposed, the offer of seven books in full for the demand, being a fraction
more than eighty cents apiece. The joke was relished as too [p. 63] good to
go unpatronized, and though the books were not regarded as possessing any
value, the claimant, more in a spirit of mischief than otherwise, accepted the
compromise accordingly. The Jinale was, that the Mormon saint was permit¬
ted to slip home from a side door, to avoid like importunities from other
creditors, and it is believed this was his last appearance in Palmyra by daylight.

Such was the advent, and such the popular reception of the Book of
Mormon, and the Church of the Latter-Day Saints founded thereon as its
corner-stone, at the place of their professed origin. The book has since gone
through many editions in the different languages of the civilized world.

Smith’s first “command” limiting to his eye alone the mortal sight of
the metallic records, except on the penalty of “instant death” denounced
against the daring of any other human being, failed in its apparent purpose.
It was treated as “Joe’s nonsense” outside of the immediate circle of his small
band of followers, as were all his stories of visions and of the “golden” book.
Hence a modification of the revelation seemingly became necessary to secure
the public acceptance of this miraculous spiritual dispensation. Exactly when
this change was reached, did not generally transpire, or at least it is not within
remembrance, though for months antecedent to the publication of the book,
the conclusive “testimony of witnesses” to the actual sight and veritable
existence of “the plates which contained the record,” was verbally [p. 68]
proclaimed by Smith and others in corroboration of the prophetic pretension.
This circumstance explains the otherwise apparent inconsistency of the fol¬
lowing allegations of eleven witnesses, which are appended to the printed
volume;

121. Tucker’s reproduction of the Book of Mormon’s title page and
preface (pp. 64-67) have been deleted (see III. L. 12, BOOK OF MORMON
COPYRIGHT, 11 JUN 1829; and III.L.16, BOOK OF MORMON PITEF-
ACE, 1829).

122. Tucker’s reproductions of the testimony of three and eight wit¬
nesses (pp. 69-71) have been deleted (see VI.G.l, TESTIMONY OF
THILEE WITNESSES, JUN 1829; and III.L.13, TESTIMONY OF EIGHT

121

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

How to reconcile the act of Harris in signing his name to such a state¬
ment, in view of the character of honesty which had always been conceded
to him, could never be easily explained. In reply to uncharitable suggestions
of his neighbors, he used to practise a good deal of his characteristic jargon
about “seeing with the spiritual eye,” and the like.^^^ As regards the other
witnesses associated with Harris, their averments in this or any other matter
could excite no more surprise than did those of Smith himself ... [p. 71] ...

Mormonism and its bible being thus candidates for acceptance or
rejection before the public judgment, an early popular decision was sought
by their supporters. Up to this time, Sidney Rigdon had played his part in
the background, and his occasional visits at Smith’s residence had been
noticed by uninitiated observers as those of the mysterious stranger. It had
been his policy to remain in concealment until [p. 75] all things should be
in readiness for blowing the trumpet of the new gospel. He was a backsliding
clergyman of the Baptist persuasion, and at the period referred to was the
principal preacher of a sort of religious society calling themselves “Reform¬
ers” or “Disciples,” at Mentor, Ohio, near Kirtland. ...

This man Rigdon now appeared as the first regular Mormon preacher
in Palmyra. Martin Harris was his forerunner, and relieved him of his
incognito position. Harris had in vain sought the use of the churches
respectively for his appointed clerical service. But the hall of the Palmyra
Young Men’s Association, in the third story of Exchange Row, was yielded
for the object, upon the earnest entreaty of Harris, whose sincerity and good
intentions were unquestioned. At the designated hour, a respectable audience
had assembled^^"^; but it was a small one, for be it remembered that the church
of the order of Latter-Day Saints was just emerging from its chrysalis state.

Rigdon introduced himself as “the Messenger of [p. 76] God,” declar-

WITNESSES, JUN 1829).

123. See discussion in “Introduction to Martin Harris Collection.”

124. Regarding Rigdon’s 1830 sermon in Palmyra, Tucker sub¬
sequently informs the reader of his personal knowledge of the matter. In a let¬
ter to Rigdon, dated 19 April 1867, Tucker states: “1 am emboldened to ad¬
dress you, without the benefit of a personal acquaintance that you will recog¬
nize, from having received a personal introduction to you here in 1830. I
heard your sermon at the hall of our Palmyra Young Men’s Association in
that year, in reference to the then new Mormon revelation according to
Joseph Smith, Jr.” (Tucker 1867, 126). See also IILB.12, LOPJENZO
SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884, 9; I1LB.14, LORENZO SAUN¬
DERS INTERVIEW, 20 SEP 1884, 5; IILB.15, LOILENZO SAUNDERS
INTERVIEW, 12 NOV 1884, 6; and IILD.9, LORENZO SAUNDERS
STATEMENT, 21 JUL 1887.

122

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

ing that he was commanded from above to proclaim the Mormon revelation.
He then went through the ceremonious form of prayer, in which he
expressed his grateful sense of the blessings of the glorious gospel dispensation
now opening to the world, and the miraculous light from Heaven to be
displayed through the instrumentality of the “chosen revelator,” Joseph
Smith, Jr. Bespeaking the favor of the Most High in return for the kindness
of the Association in granting the use of their hall, he concluded his prayer
by commanding all believers to the divine care and protection against the
sneers and persecutions of their adversaries.

The discourse was based upon the following text read by the preacher
from the recently published Book of Mormon, which the searcher may find
in “First Book of Nephi,” chapter iv. (page 32, original edition [1 Nephi
13:40]):—

“And the angel spake unto me, saying: These last records which thou
hast seen among the Gentiles, shall establish the truth of the first, which is
of the Twelve Apostles of the lamb, and shall make known the plain and
precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make
known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the
Eternal Father and Saviour of the world; and that all men must come unto
Him, or they cannot be saved.” [p. 77]

The preacher assumed to establish the theory that the Book of Mormon
and the old Bible were one in inspiration and importance, and that the
“precious things” now revealed had for wise purposes been withheld from
the book first promulgated to the world, and were necessary to establish its
truth. In the course of his argument he applied various quotations from the
two books to prove his position. Holding the Book of Mormon in his right
hand, and the Bible in his left hand, he brought them together in a manner
corresponding to the emphatic declaration made by him, that they were both
equally the Word of God; that neither was perfect without the other; and
that they were inseparably necessary to complete the everlasting gospel of
the Saviour Jesus Christ. The “latter-day” theory was dwelt upon at some
length, with apparent seriousness. Reiterating the declaration made in his
introduction, that he was “commanded” to proclaim these truths for the
salvation of fallen man, he wound up his discourse by a warning appeal to
the confidence and faith of his hearers; adding a benediction.

This is by no means offered as a literal report of the “sermon” beyond
a few points, but is believed to state truthfully and fairly its essential features,
as quite distinctly remembered after the lapse of nearly thirty-seven years.
Altogether, though evidencing some talent and ingenuity in its matter and
manner, [p. 78] and delivered with startling boldness and seeming sincerity.

123

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

the performance was in the main an unintelligible jumble of quotations,
assertions, and obscurities, which was received by the audience as shockingly
blasphemous, as it was painful to hear. The manifestations of disfavor were
so unequivocal that Harris hesitatingly assented to the suggestion of his
“Gentile” friends to withhold all further request for the use of the hall for a
repetition of the exhibition. And “regular preaching” upon the Mormon
plan was never again attempted by Rigdon or any other man in Palmyra,
according to the best knowledge and belief of the writer.

Rigdon, however, remained at Smith’s for some days, preaching in the
neighborhood, and baptizing several converts. Smith himself, with Harris,
Cowdery, and Stoddard, also made some advances toward preaching in an
irregular, miscellaneous way, in barns and in the streets; but all these failed to
find “orderly-behaved” hearers in sufficient numbers to encourage their per¬
sistence in the clerical vocation. They “lacked the gift of public speaking” to
communicate the revelation, as was explained by themselves. Cowdery ex¬
celled in the baptismal service, but that seemed to be the extent of his min¬
isterial talent.

An anecdote, well remembered by numerous people now living near
the scene of the performance, will [p. 79] serve as an illustration of the facility
with which Smith gained converts and co-laborers.

[Calvin] Stoddard^^^ was an early believer in Mormonism, and was
quite as eccentric a character as Harris. He was slightly impressed that he had
a call to preach the new gospel, but his mind was beclouded with perplexing
doubts upon the question. One dark night, about ten o’clock, Stephen S.
Harding, then a stalwart, fun-loving, dare-devil genius of eighteen years,
late T erritorial Governor of Utah (not a Mormon), who well knew Stod¬
dard’s peculiarities, and being bent on making a sensation, repaired with his
genial friend, Abner Tucker,^^^ to the residence of the enthusiast; and
awakening him from sleep by three signals upon the door with a huge stone,
deliberately proclaimed, in a loud, sonorous voice, with solemn intona¬
tions — “C-a-l-v-i-n S-t-o-d-d-a-r-d! t-h-e a-n-g-e-1 o-f t-h-e

125. On Calvin Stoddard (1801-36), who married Sophronia Smith in
1828, see IILJ.7, STEPHEN S. HARDING TO POMEROY TUCKER, 1
JUN 1867, n. 9.

126. For Harding’s own account of the following event, see IILJ.7,
STEPHEN S. HARDING TO POMEROY TUCKER, 1 JUN 1867, 285-
86; and IILJ.15, STEPHEN S. HARDING TO THOMAS GREGG, FEB
1882, 48-49.

127. Perhaps Abner Tucker, age thirty-seven, listed in the 1850 census
ofMacedon, Ontario County, New York, as a “Shoemaker” (1850:71).

124

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

L-o-r-d c-o-m-m-a-n-d-s t-h-a-t b-e-f-o-r-e a-n-o-t-h-e-r g-o-
i-n-g d-o-w-n o-f t-h-e s-u-n, t-h-o-u s-h-a-l-t g-o f-o-r-t-h
a-m-o-n-g t-h-e p-e-o-p-l-e a-n-d p-r-e-a-c-h t-h-e g-o-s-p-e-1
o-f N-e-p-h-i, o-r t-h-y w-i-f-e s-h-a-1-1 b-e a w-i-d-o-w,
t-h-y c-h-i-l-d-r-e-n o-r-p-h-a-n-s, a-n-d t-h-y a-s-h-e-s s-c-a-t-
t-e-r-e-d t-o t-h-e f-o-u-r w-i-n-d-s o-f h-e-a-v-e-n!”

The experiment was a complete success. Stoddard’s former convictions
were now confirmed. Such a convincing “revelation” was final, and not to
be disregarded. Early the next morning the subject of this [p. 80] “special
call” was seen upon his rounds among his neighbors, as a Mormon mission¬
ary, earnestly telling them of the “command” he had received to preach.
Luminous arguments and evidences were adduced by him to sustain the
foundation of his belief in this his revealed sphere of duty!

In further illustration of the strange superstitions characterizing these
pioneer disciples of Mormonism, and to complete the chain of facts going
to make up this truthful history, it is proper to add one other important
incident, which has never appeared in any accepted record of the saints.
Enthusiastic members of the brotherhood — ^perhaps it should be said the
more visionary of the believers — had plied the “spirit of prophecy” in
foretelling the event of a miraculous birth in association with an unmarried
daughter of Joseph Smith, Sr.^^^ This predicted event was to astonish the
gentile world as a second advent of triune humanity. Harris was exceedingly
happy in the belief of a forthcoming prophet or Messiah under the Mormon
dispensation, and spoke unreservedly of an “immaculate conception in our
day and generation.” The ample shrewdness of the prophet had probably
been called in requisition to allay some unfavorable surmises on the part of
his observing disciple, who was a frequenter at the family mansion; and it is
apparent that the theory invented was readily adopted by Harris. Rigdon had
been an occasional sojourner [p. 81] at Smith’s for a year or more, though
the reader may fail to perceive what this circumstance had to do with the
case. The upshot of the story is, that soon after the family had started for
Ohio, the miracle eventuated somewhere on the route, in the birth of a
lifeless female child! The accident W2is readily set down to the account of divine
interposition to avenge some act of Mormon disobedience, and Harris was

128. Stoddard’s “loud call” was reported in the Palmyra Reflector (see
III.E.3, PALMYILA REFLECTOR, 1829-31, 14, under 23 September 1829).

129. Later statements name Katharine Smith (see III. B. 12,

LOILENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884, 1; IILB.15,
LOILENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 12 NOV 1884, 21; and IILD.3,
CHRISTOPHER M. STAFFORD STATEMENT, 23 MAR 1885).

125

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

thus easily reconciled.

In the summer of 1830/^^ the founders of the Mormon Church then
remaining at the scene of its birthplace, who had talked much of going on a
mission into the Western country to convert the Lamanites (meaning
Indians), started on their western expedition with their unsold Golden Bibles,
and went to Mentor, Ohio, the residence of Rigdon, and Parley P. Pratt,
his friend and co-worker. Near this place is Kirtland, where there were a
few families belonging to Rigdon’s congregation, who had become ex¬
tremely fanatical under his preparatory preaching and prophecies, and were
daily looking for the occurrence of some wonderful event. Seventeen of
these people, men and women, readily espoused the new revelation, and
were immersed by Cowdery in one night, in attestation of their Mormon
faith. By the continued ministration of Rigdon, aided by Pratt, Smith,
Cowdery, and their auxiliaries, conversions rapidly followed; a powerful
impetus was given to the cause; and over one [p. 82] hundred persons were
added to the fold in a short time. Kirtland from about this period became
the headquarters of the Mormons, where their Church and colony were
thoroughly organized and temporarily established, [p. 83] ...

The legend proceeds with descriptions of the metallic volume, a part
of which was sealed and not to be seen, even by Smith himself, until further
revelation, and also of the Urim and Thummim or large spectacles to be used
in translating, which are substantially the same as given elsewhere.

According to similar “latter-day” accounts, the wonderful event was
followed by great popular commotion; though these things were not
perceived or heard of at the time and locality of the original story. The
following exciting description has been published by the Mormons:

“Soon the news of these discoveries by Joseph Smith, Jr., spread abroad
throughout all those parts. False reports, misrepresentations, and base slan¬
ders, flew as if upon the wings of the wind, in every direction. His house
was frequently beset by mobs and evil-designing persons. Several times he
was shot at, and very narrowly escaped. Every device was used to get the
plates away from him. And being continually in danger of his life from a gang
of abandoned wretches, he at length concluded to leave the place and go to
Pennsylvania; and, accordingly, packed up his goods, putting the plates into
a barrel [p. 117] of beans, and proceeded upon his journey. He had not gone
far, before he was overtaken by an officer with a search-warrant, who

130. Actually the latter part of October 1830.

131. Tucker’s description of the Book of Mormon’s contents as well as
his discussion of the Spaulding theory (pp. 84-117) have been deleted.

126

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867

flattered himself with the idea that he should surely obtain the plates; but
after searching very diligently, he was sadly disappointed at not finding them.
Mr. Smith then drove on, but before he got to his journey's end he was again
overtaken by the officer on the same business, and after ransacking the wagon
very carefully, he went his way as much chagrined as in the first instance, at
not being able to discover the object of his search. Without any further
molestation, he pursued his journey until he came into the northern part of
Pennsylvania, near the Susquehanna River. Here, by the power of God, and
with the aid of two crystals set in a bow (the Urim and Thummim), he
translated the unsealed portion of the records into the English tongue, in
obedience to the divine command.”^^^

The latter portion of this Mormon second-thought — the alleged pro¬
curement of the “translations” in Pennsylvania — is probably a little nearer the
truth than the pretensions first put forth by Smith, Cowdery, Harris, and their
prime associates; for their story then was, that the translations were made in
the manner before stated, at Smith’s residence in Manchester. Whereas, no
doubt, the exact truth is, that a copy of their production was made from a
manuscript then held by an accomplice in Pennsylvania, [p. 118]

The whole idea of an attempt to harm Smith in any way, or to rob him
of his “golden bible,” is purely a Mormon invention, based upon no other
circumstance in truth, than that an individual creditor in vain sent a constable
after him in the hope of securing the payment of a small debt. ... [p. 119]

At Kirtland, Ohio, the Mormons had a successful though brief experi¬
ence in the outset of their organization which had been imperfectly effected
at their starting-place in Manchester, N.Y. The nucleus of their Church and
hierarchy may be said to have advanced to maturity at this point in their
progress. Their doctrines, at first not at aU clearly defined, were yet somewhat
vague and contradictory. It is presumed that neither Smith nor Rigdon had
at this time determined what should be their precise character. The new
religion needed its finishing touch, but the “revelation” capital was ample
for this object. Aided as they were by Parley P. Pratt, whose remarkable
instantaneous conversion had occurred at Manchester, aU confusion and
conflict in regard to the fundamental creed were speedily dispelled before
the light of the Mormon gospel, [p. 129]

Joseph Smith, Sr., the first “patriarch and president” of the Church,

132. Compare LA.17, ORSON PITATT ACCOUNT, 1840, 13-14.

133. Tucker’s continued discussion of the Spaulding theory of the
Book of Mormon’s origin and other extraneous material (pp. 119-28) have
been deleted.

127

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

soon removed with his family to Kirtland, and fulfilled the dignity of his
office. Harris early made a purchase of property there, and took his place in
the Church with the Smiths, Rigdon, Pratt, Cowdery, the Whitmers, and
other pioneers — making occasional return visits in looking after his property
affairs at Palmyra. ...

128

PHILETUS B. SPEAR PJEMINISCENCE,
CIRCA 1873

“Joseph Smith and Mormonism Which Started 100 Years Ago. Some
Incidents Related About Smith By Professor Philetus B. Spear, D.D., a Man
Born in Palmyra in 1811 — An Article on Mormonism of Interest to Our
Readers — Special Services Were Conducted at Mormon Hill,” Marion
Enterprise (Newark, New York) 43 (28 September 1923): 1.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Philetus Bennett Spear (1811-1901) was born at Palmyra, where he
attended high school. He graduated from Madison University (now Colgate
University) in Hamilton, New York, in 1836, and from the Madison
Theological Seminary in 1838. Upon graduation he became the minister of
the Baptist Church in Palmyra. In 1842 he became professor of Latin at
Madison University, and in 1850 professor of Hebrew. He married Esther
Jackson (d. 1878) of Palmyra in 1848. Retiring from teaching in 1875, he
later died at Hamilton, New York (Cathcart 1883, 1089-90; The Colgate-
Rochester Divinity School Bulletin 3 [October 1930]: xxviii, 12; [Obituary],
Hamilton Examiner, 31 January 1901; [Obituary], Hamilton Republican, 31
January 1901; Spear 1901).

Spear’s reminiscence of early Mormonism was written down by the
Reverend Jared S. Nasmith (1853-1946) of Marion, New York, then one
of Spear’s students at Madison University. According to Nasmith, he wrote
and published Spear’s account “nearly fifty years ago” (c. 1873), although I
have been unable to locate the original printing. Regarding the origin of
Spear’s statement, the Enterprise states:

When Rev. J. S. Nasmith, of Marion, was a student in Hamilton Theological
Seminary nearly fifty years ago, he told Dr. Spear one day that he had recently
visited Mormon Hill. The professor was interested at once and said that he
was born in Palmyra, and knew all about Joe Smith and the beginning of
Mormonism. Dr. Spear said that Martin Harris tried to convert his mother to
Mormonism. Seeing Nasmith’s interest, he gave a number of statements that
Mr. Nasmith put in writing, and sent to his home paper in Plattsville, Wis¬
consin. A copy of the article was preserved and we give it practically in fuU. ...

129

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

The decision of the Enterprise to reprint Spear’s statement was evidently
motivated by the recent Mormon meetings held on the Hill Cumorah, and
the belief that “anything that comes from an authentic source regarding
Smith and those early days will interest people in this part of the state.”

[Joseph] Smith was born in Sharon, Vermont, in 1905 [1805], coming
to New York State at an early age.

His father was a fortune-teller, and had a poor reputation among the
townsmen. Joe was an ungainly looking lad, clothing poor, with associates
of the lower class. He had for a library a copy of the “Arabian Nights,” stories
of Captain Kidd, and a few novels.

Though of a coarse wit and of some influence, he gave no promise in
his youth of the power exercised in his later years.

The attention of the people was first called to him by the claims made
that Joe could find anything lost or hidden. Once in a while he would succeed
in telling where a thing was to be found, and, forgetting his many failures,
the one success was loudly proclaimed.

This prepared the public to believe him when he claimed to know
where Captain Kidd had hidden money in Palmyra. A company was
organized to dig in a certain hill specified by “Joe.” This company was
solemnly told that a spell was upon the treasure.

No one could find it unless digging in the night. When they came near
the devil would frighten them away. They must never mind him but dig on,
or he would drag the treasure down deeper.

The men worked hard and long but saw no signs of gold, when Mr.
Ellsworth,^ growing convinced of his folly, determined to play a joke upon
his comrades. Going to the hill before the others, he scattered a train of
powder around. About midnight, when the men were thinking of the signs
that might come any moment, Ellsworth dropped his pipe on the powder.
As it flashed, he shouted: “The Devil is coming! The Devil is coming!” when
one and all ran for dear life. Thus ended the work by Company No. 1.

But another company was organized. Smith himself being the leader
of this. The entrance to their mine was firmly locked during the day, and
guarded at night when they were at work. As no treasure was found, the
village began to lose faith. The company kept on when it began to be
whispered that they were counterfeiting money, expecting to pass it as the
found treasure. It was while digging with this second company that Smith

1. Perhaps Philip Ellsworth, in his fifties, listed in the 1830 census of
Palmyra, New York.

130

PHILETUS B. SPEAR REMINISCENCE, CIRCA 1873
claimed to find the Gold Bible.

His mother had great faith in him, and every time he returned from
the hill she would say: “Well, Joe, what have you found?” Growing tired of
answering that nothing had been seen, he put sand into his coat pocket, and
when that time she asked the same question, with an air of great mystery, he
exclaimed that he had found a Gold Bible. He could not show it to her, as
no human eyes but his, could look upon it, without being struck dead.

Going to his room the sand was formed in a box, and kept sacred by
him. His mother whispered the story to others, and, to Joe’s utmost surprise,
the people believed it. Seeing how they were affected he determined to make
the most of the matter.

He solemnly told Martin Harris that God had chosen him (Harris) to
furnish means for the publication of the Bible, and prevailed upon him to
accept the work. Harris’ wife had no faith in Smith, and she, seeing their
property rapidly diminishing, demanded a sight of the Bible. Smith said no
one could see it. She persisted, and he finally, by main force, kept her from
opening the box.

The rest is known. Smith found Sidney Rigdon, the cutler, who gave
him the manuscript of a novel written by Solomon Spaulding, entitled
“Manuscript Found.”

Smith altered this same title and gave it to the world as the translation
of his “Gold Bible.” ...

131

10.

Palmyra P^sident P^miniscence,
CIRCA 1876

“The Book of Mormon. The Original Edition Published at Palmyra. Facts
About the First Publication of the Bible of the Latter Day Saints — Sketch of
Joe Smith,” unidentified and undated newspaper clipping, Charles Wood¬
ward Scrapbook, New York Public Library, New York, New York (Wood¬
ward 1880, 2:210).

EDITORIAL NOTE

This item is evidently reprinted from the Cincinnati Enquirer, and the
date “1876” is written on the clipping. Internal evidence suggests that the
article was written after the publication of the first RLDS edition of the Book
of Mormon in 1874. The unnamed author of this item claims that his account
is based on the testimony of one of his “personal friends” who was “weU
acquainted with Joe [Smith].” The informant was evidently Pomeroy
Tucker, whose 1867 book is apparent in the wording of the article (compare
IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867).

... In 1827-8-9 one of our personal friends was at Palmyra, and being
well acquainted with Joe [Smith] had every opportunity to become ac¬
quainted with the beginning of the Mormon fraud. Joe was a notorious
loafer, spending his time about the saloons or along the creeks, in the woods
digging out woodchucks, reading bad novels, joining a Methodist Church
occasionally, and in yanking a quarter whenever he could by telling fortunes.
At the age of twenty-five he was, according to old man Smith, ^ the genus of
the family; long, lean, limber and lazy: his face the color of a brick yard, and
a conscience that enabled him to achieve a reputation of the most facile liar
in Palmyra. After conceiving the plan to account for the American Indians
and make a raise by imposing his Golden Bible upon the credulous he
succeeded in getting Martin Harris^ and Oliver Cowdery^ to help him put

1. On Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

2. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

3. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

132

PALMYRA RESIDENT REMINISCENCE, CIRCA 1876

the business through. It was while this trio of tricksters were at work that
our informant was permitted to hear them read manuscript and talk up the
pecuniary gain. In 1829-30 Harris mortgaged his farm and entered into a
contract with Grandin,^ of Palmyra, agreeing to pay $3,000 for an edition of
5,000. Thurlow Weed^ had refused to do the printing, believing it to be
another of the Smith’s attempts at swindling, and it was only upon the urgent
solicitation of the Smiths that Grandin consented to do the work. Before
going to the printer Joe kept the sacred document at home covered up in a
box. To keep oflf some of the credulous and prevent meddling Joe affirmed
that instant death would end the days of any one who should dare to look
upon the plates from which he was translating. This answered the purpose
very weU until Hussey^ and Van Draver^ ofiered to run the risk and look at
the mysterious book. Joe objected, but before he could prevent, Hussey
snatched off the cover, saying, “Egad! I’ll see the critter, live or die!” Joe’s
bible proved to be a large tile! Joe said the joke was on them, and, all taking
a drink, the affair passed over with a laugh.^ In the summer of 1830 the first
edition came fi^om the press, and Harris was happy. Smith had a revelation
that the bibles should be sold for $1.25 each. Harris had told his wife that if
she would only keep stiU he would make something out of the business. This
is the way he ciphered: — Cost of the five thousand bibles, $3,000; five
thousand retailed at $1.25 apiece would amount to $6,250 — clear of $3,250!
The bible speculation fizzled; the book was treated only to contempt and
ridicule. Harris endeavored to make sales go “according to revelation” at
$1.25 a copy, but buyers were scarce, and Joe had another revelation
instructing his father, the old man Smith, to help Harris seU the books. Every
sale by old man Smith was just so much dead loss to Harris; but the book
wouldn’t go — $1.25 a copy was too much for a Joe Smith bible, the author
and proprietor being too well known around Palmyra, Manchester and
Rochester. One day old Smith went out with a basketful of the books and

4. On Egbert B. Grandin (1806-45), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 77.

5. On Thurlow Weed (1797-1882), see introduction to III.K.17,
THURLOW WEED REMINISCENCES, 1854, 1858, 1880 & 1884.

6. On WiUiam T. Huzzy (or Hussy), see LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1845, n. 222.

7. On Azel Vandruver, see IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867, n. 50.

8. Compare IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 31-
32.

133

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

was arrested for debt. Esquire Tiffany^ put the old patriarch’s obligations —
debts, costs, &c. — at $5.63. The old gentleman had no money, but, on
condition that his persecutor would keep hush, he agreed, in a private room,
to give him seven bibles to effect a clearance! This was something of a fall
from the price fixed by revelation, but as there was a second creditor waiting
for him outside the office, the old man concluded to cut on the Lord’s figures
and get away, which he did, escaping through a side door to the infinite
enjoyment of the man who had the armful of bibles. The book is the veriest
trash, a bungling compound of the Spaulding story. Old Testament and New,
Watts’ hymns, Shakespeare, Robinson Crusoe and Joe Smith. It is beneath
all scholarly criticism, and if the reading of it were not attended by harmless
stupefaction of the mental faculties, the sale of it would be an indictable
offence — obtaining money under false representations. As a curiosity in the
department of human credulity no one can object to the Mormon bible.

9. On A. R. Tiffany, see IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867, n. 120.

134

11.

PARLEY Chase to [James t. Cobb?],
3 April 1879

Wilhelm Ritter von Joseph Smith, the Prophet, His Family and His

Friends (Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing Co., 1886), 276.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Besides his interview with Philastus Hurlbut in 1833 (see III. A. 10,
PARLEY CHASE STATEMENT, 2 DEC 1833), the present item is the
only other known source from Parley Chase. Chase’s letter, according to
Wymetal, is dated Rollin, Michigan, 3 April 1879, and was most likely
written to James T. Cobb (1834-?), a Salt Lake City newspaperman who
collected many statements about Mormon origins (mostly dated in 1879).
Cobb apparently intended to publish his findings in a book (V.D.6, AMBOY
[IL] JOURNAL, 23 APR 1879), but never did so. He shared a great deal of
his findings with Wilhelm Wymetal, a German correspondent living in Salt
Lake City, and apparently allowed him to publish them (see Wymetal 1886,
75, 79, 207, 211, and 231).^ Wymetal gives only an excerpt of the original
letter, which has not been located.

[Rollin, Michigan]
[April 3, 1879]

When [Joseph] Smith first told of getting the book of plates he said it
would teU him how to get hidden treasures in the earth; and his father, soon
after they got the plates, came in to my mother’s one morning, just after
breakfast, and told that Joe had a book and that it would tell him how to get
money that was buried in the ground,^ and that he also found a pair of
EYE-GLASSES on the book by which he could interpret it, and that the
glasses were as big as a breakfast plate; and he said that if the angel Gabriel

1. On Wilhelm Ritter von Wymetal (1838-96), see III.H.4, JOHN H.
GILBERT TO JAMES T. COBB, 14 OCT 1879, n. 1.

2. The claim that the plates contained the locations of other treasures
IS also found m OLE. 3, PALMYRA REFLECTOR, 1828-1831, under 14
February 1831, 102.

135

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

should come down and tell him he could not get this hidden treasure, HE
WOULD TELL HIM HE WAS A LIAR.

[Parley Chase]

136

12.

Abel d. Chase Statement,

2 MAY 1879

Wilhelm Ritter von Wymetal, Smith, the Prophet, His Family and His

Friends (Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing Co., 1886), 230-31.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Besides his interview with the Kelleys in 1881 (see IILB.7, ABEL
CHASE INTERVIEW, 1881), the present document is the only known
statement of Abel D. Chase. Wilhelm Wymetal^ states that Abel D. Chase’s
statement was “never published before” (Wymetal 1886, 230). Since the
statement is dated 2 May 1879, it was probably taken by John H. Gilbert for
James T. Cobb of Salt Lake City, who later shared many of his documents
with Wymetal (see discussion in introduction to III.J.ll, PAPJLEY CHASE
TO [JAMES T. COBB?], 3 APR 1879).

PALMYILA, Wayne Co., N.Y., May 2, 1879.

I, Abel D. Chase, now living in Palmyra, Wayne Co., N.Y., make the
following statement regarding my early acquaintance with Joseph Smith and
incidents about the production of the so-caUed Mormon Bible. I was well
acquainted with the Smith family, frequently visiting the Smith boys and
they me. I was a youth at the time from twelve to thirteen years old, having
been born Jan. 19, 1814, at Palmyra, N.Y. During some of my visits at the
Smiths, I saw a STRANGER there WHO THEY SAID WAS MR.
RIGDON. He was at Smith’s several times, and it was in the year of 1827
when I first saw him there, as near as I can recollect.^ Some time after that
tales were circulated that young [p. 230] Joe had found or dug from the earth
a BOOK OF PLATES which the Smiths caUed the GOLDEN BIBLE. I
don’t think Smith had any such plates. He was mysterious in his actions. The
PEEPSTONE, in which he was accustomed to look, he got of my elder

1. On Wilhelm Ritter von Wymetal (1838-96), see III.H.4, JOHN H.
GILBERT TO JAMES T. COBB, 14 OCT 1879, n. 1.

2. Lorenzo Saunders said that “Abel Chase testified that he thought he
saw Rigdon before that time [1830], but was not certain” (IILB.12,
LOPTNZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884, 4).

137

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

brother Willard while at work for us digging a well.^ It was a singular looking
stone and young Joe pretended he could discover hidden things in it.

My brother Willard Chase died at Palmyra, N.Y., March 10, 1871. His
affidavit, published in Howe’s “History of Mormonism,” is genuine."^ Peter
Ingersoll, whose affidavit was published in the same book,^ is also dead. He
moved West years ago and died about two years ago. Ingersoll had the
reputation of being a man of his word, and I have no doubt his sworn
statement regarding the Smiths and the Mormon Bible is genuine. I was also
well acquainted with Thomas P. Baldwin,^ a lawyer and Notary Public, and
Frederick Smith,^ a lawyer and magistrate, before whom Chase’s and
Ingersoll’s depositions were made, and who were residents of this village at
the time and for several years after.

ABEL D. CHASE.

Abel D. Chase signed the above statement in our presence, and he is
known to us and the entire community here as a man whose word is always
the exact truth and above any possible suspicion.

PLINY T. SEXTON,^
J. H. GILBEP^T.^

3. See IILA.14, WILLARD CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11
DEC 1833, 247.

4. See IILA.14, WILLARD CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11
DEC 1833.

5. See IILA.9, PETER INGERSOLL STATEMENT, 2 DEG 1833.

6. On Thomas P. Baldwin, see IILA.2, BARTON STAFFORD
STATEMENT, 3 NOV 1833, n. 6.

7. On Frederick Smith, see IILA.12, DAVID STAFFORD STATE¬
MENT, 5 DEC 1833, n. 8.

8. Wymetal informs that “Mr. Sexton was at the time of this affidavit
the village President of Palmyra and President of the first National Bank
there” (Wymetal 1886, 231). Pliny T. Sexton was a successful Palmyra busi¬
nessman who apparently owned the land on which “Mormon Hill” was lo¬
cated (T. Cook 1930, 77, 80, 101, 246, 253, 265, 277, 285, 289). He was the
son of Pliny Sexton, who signed Hurlbut’s Palmyra group statement in 1833
(see III.A.ll, PALMYRA ILESIDENTS GROUP STATEMENT, 4 DEC
1833).

9. John H. Gilbert corresponded with James T. Gobb and helped him
obtain statements in the Palmyra/Manchester area (see IILB.12, LOILENZO
SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884, 4-5). On Gilbert, see “Introduc¬
tion to John H. Gilbert Collection.”

138

13.

Orlando Saunders, william van Camp, and
JOHN H. Gilbert Interviews with
FREDERICK G. MATHER,

JULY 1880

Frederick G. Mather, “The Early Days of Mormonism,” Lippincotfs Maga¬
zine (Philadelphia) 26 (August 1880): 198-206, 211.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Frederick Gregory Mather (1844-1925) was born at Cleveland, Ohio.
After graduating from Dartmouth in 1867, he studied law at Cleveland until
1870. He served as editor-in-chief of the Binghamton (New York) Republican
(1874-79), as an editorial writer for the Albany Evening Journal (1879-80), and
thereafter as special Albany correspondent for various newspapers (1880-97).
He died at Stamford, Connecticut {Who Was Who in America, 1966, 1:177-
78).

Mather’s account includes interviews with Orlando Saunders, William
Van Camp, John H. Gilbert, and unnamed others. In a letter to James T.
Cobb, dated 10 September 1880, John H. Gilbert said that he had read an
“extract” of Mather’s article and that there was “nothing new in it, and some
errors” (Theodore A. Schroeder Collection, Wisconsin State Historical
Society, Madison, Wisconsin).

...In the year 1815,^ there came to the town of Palmyra, in Wayne county,
a family by the name of Smith. Their former home was Sharon, Vermont. “
The father’s name was Joseph, the mother’s maiden name was Lucy Mack,
and they were both of Scotch descent. Their son Joseph, afterward “the
Prophet,” was born on December 23, 1805. Hyrum,^ another son, helped
his father at the trade of a cooper. Joseph, Jr., grew up with the reputation
of being an idle and ignorant youth, given to chicken-thieving, and, like his

1. Rather 1816.

2. Rather Norwich, Vermont. Sharon is the birth place of Joseph
Smith, Jr.

3. On Hymm Smith (1800-44), see I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 12.

139

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

father, extremely superstitious. Both father and sons believed in witchcraft,
and they frequently “divined” the presence of water by a forked stick or
hazel rod. Orlando Sanders^ of Palmyra, a well-preserved gentleman of over
eighty, tells us that the Smith family worked for his father and for himself.
He gives them the credit of being good workers, but declares that they could
save no money. He also states that Joseph, Jr., was “a greeny,” both large
and strong. By nature he was peaceably disposed, but when he had taken too
much liquor he was inclined to fight, with or without provocation.^

The profession of a water-witch did not bring enough ducats to the
Smith family; so the attempt was made to find hidden treasures. Failing in
this, the unfolding flower of Mormonism would have been nipped in the
bud had not Joe’s father and brother been engaged in digging a well upon
the premises of Clark Chase in September, 1819.^ Joseph, Jr., stood idly by
with some of the Chase children when a stone resembling a child’s foot was
thrown from the well. The Chase children claimed the curiosity, as it was
considered, but Joe seized and retained it. Afterward, for a series of years, he
claimed that by the use of it he was enabled to discover stolen property and
to locate the place where treasure was buried.

After living in Palmyra for about ten years, ^ the Smith family moved
southward a few miles and settled in Manchester, the northern town of
Ontario county. Their residence was a primitive one, even for those days.
William Van Camp,^ the aged editor of the Democratic Press at Lyons, recalls

4. On Orlando Saunders, see introduction to IILB.6, ORLANDO
SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 1881.

5. Compare IILB.6, ORLANDO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 1881.

6. Mather evidently follows Tucker’s incorrect date (see IILJ.8,
POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 20, n. 32). Willard Case said
the stone was found in the well in 1822 (see III. A. 14, WILLAPJD CHASE
STATEMENT, CIRCA 11 DEC 1833, 240).

7. The move from Palmyra to Manchester after “ten years” (1825) is
incorrect. Joseph Smith said the move occurred after “about four years,” or
about 1820 (LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 1). However, the
Smiths apparently moved to a small cabin on the northern edge of the town¬
ship about 1820, purchased their Manchester property in late 1820, and fi¬
nally moved onto their land when their Manchester cabin was completed
about 1822 (see IILL.4, SMITH MANCHESTER [NY] LAND RE¬
CORDS, 1820-1830).

8. William Van Camp was born in Madison County, New York, in
1827. He began publication of the Wayne Democratic Press at Palmyra in 1855,
which was removed to Lyons the same year (French 1860, 689). Camp took
over the Lyons Gazette from 1852 to 1856, then purchased the Wayne Demo¬
cratic Press from Pomeroy Tucker (McIntosh 1877, 105, 211).

140

INTERVIEWS WITH FREDERICK G. MATHER, 1880

the fact that it was a log house from the following circumstance. Martin
Harris, a farmer near Palmyra, visited the Smiths while he was yet in doubt
concerning the doctrines of Mormonism. One night, while he was in his
room, curtained off from the single large room of the interior, there appeared
to him no less a personage than Jesus Christ. Harris was informed that
Mormonism was the true faith, and Van [p. 198] Camp knows that it was a
log house, although no vestige now remains, because Harris told him that
his celestial visitor was lying on the beam overhead!

One mile from the Smith residence was the farm of Alonzo Sanders,^
now owned by William T. Sampson,^^ commander in the United States
Navy. This farm is four miles south of Palmyra, on the road toward
Canandaigua. It includes a barren hiU which rises abruptly to the height
of one hundred and fifty feet. The ridge runs almost due north and south,
and from the summit there are beautiful views of the hills surrounding
Canandaigua and Seneca Lakes. It is known to the present generation as
“Gold Bible Hill:” to Joe Smith it was known as “the HiU Cumorah,”
where the angel Moroni announced to him the presence of the “golden
plates” giving an account of the fate which attended the early inhabitants
of America. With these plates would be found the only means by which
they could be read, the wonderful spectacles known as the “Urim and
Thummim.” Joe was not averse to such a revelation, for his hazel rod
and his “peek-stone” had already failed him. There had been various re¬
ligious awakenings in the neighborhood, and when the various sects began
to quarrel over the converts Joe arose and announced that his mission was
to restore the true priesthood. He appointed a number of meetings, but
no one seemed inclined to foUow him as the leader of a new religion. In
September, 1823, an angel appeared to him, forgave his many lapses from
grace and announced the golden plates.

These plates, however, were not found for several years. In the mean
time the scene of Smith’s operations shifted along the banks of Seneca Lake
and down the tributaries of the Susquehanna to the point where that river
sweeps southward into Pennsylvania past a borough of its own name, and
then northward into New York, before it finally crosses Pennsylvania on its

9. Alonzo Saunders, age twenty-nine, is listed in the 1850 census of
Union, Branch County, Michigan, as a farmer (1850:377).

10. At the time the Smiths resided in Manchester, the land on which
the Hill Cumorah, or Mormon Hill, was situated was owned by Randall Ro¬
binson. After Robinson’s death, it fell into the hands of his son Anson Robin¬
son. In the 1870s, William T. Sampson (1840-81) acquired the land (T.

Cook 1930, 246, 276).

141

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

way to the Chesapeake. ... [p. 199] ...^^

About these days [1826?], every other means of gaining a living without
honest work having been exhausted, the prophet thought it was time to find
the golden plates. Returning to the vicinity of Palmyra, Smith and his
followers began to dig for the plates on the eastern side of the hill. It was
announced that each one of the diggers must be pure in deed, and that no
evil thought must cross his mind as he worked. One night a spade struck an
iron box at the same moment that an evil thought seized one of the diggers.
The box sank to lower depths amid thunder and lightning, while Smith
announced that nothing could be done that night but to go home and pray.
They were more fortunate, however, in leaving their evil thoughts at home
on the night of September 22, 1826 [1827], for then, according to the faithful,
the golden plates were taken from “the Hill Cumorah with a mighty display
of celestial machinery. It is recorded that after the prize had been delivered
to the prophet by angels his eyes were opened and he saw legions of devils
struggling with a celestial host to keep the plates concealed. On his return
to Susquehanna with a bandaged head. Smith gave out that he had had [p.
200] an encounter with the chief devil, and been severely wounded by a
blow “struck from the shoulder.”'*'

With the golden plates were also found the Urim and Thummim, the
magic spectacles or religious peek-stones, “transparent and clear as crystal,”
which should translate the hieroglyphics on the plates. There were three wit¬
nesses who swore by all that was sacred that the angel of the Lord laid these plates
before them, and that “they were translated by the gift and power of God.” The
three witnesses were Oliver Cowdery, who was finally expelled from the
brotherhood in Missouri; David Whitmer, who abandoned the Mormons and
settled in Richmond, Missouri, where he still lives; and Martin Harris, who
quarrelled with Smith in the same State and returned to New Y ork to live.

11. For Mather’s account of Smith’s activities in Harmony, Susque¬
hanna County, Pennsylvania, see V.C.5, SALLY MCKUNE, MEHETABLE
DOOLITTLE, ELIZABETH SQUIRES, JACOB 1. SKINNER, AND SA¬
MUEL BRUSH INTERVIEWS WITH FREDERICK G. MATHER, JUL
1880; and V.C.6, SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY RESIDENTS INTER¬
VIEWS WITH FREDERICK G. MATHER, JUL 1880.

12. See IILK.24, HEBER C. KIMBALL AUTOBIOGRAPHY, 1864.

13. This story came from Mather’s interviews of Harmony area resi¬
dents (see V.C.5, SALLY MCKUNE, MEHETABLE DOOLITTLE, ELIZA¬
BETH SQUIILES, JACOB 1. SKINNER, AND SAMUEL BRUSH IN¬
TERVIEWS WITH FREDERICK G. MATHER, JUL 1880).

14. Until his move to Utah in 1870, Harris lived mostly in Kirtland,

Ohio.

142

INTERVIEWS WITH FREDERICK G. MATHER, 1880

Such a precious treasure as was now in the hands of Smith was not to
be “borne in earthly vessels frail.” He applied to Willard Chase, a son of that
Clark Chase on whose premises the original peek-stone was discovered, to
make him a wooden box for the plates. The compensation was to be a share
in the prospective profits from the “Gold Book.” Chase’s lack of faith in
both the man and the book caused him to decline the work.^^ Smith
thereupon thrust his gold plates and the rings which connected them into a
bag of beans and started for Susquehanna.^^ ... [p. 201] ...^^

The Saints in the region about the Gold Bible Hill had not been idle
while these things were occurring in Susquehanna. William Van Camp
relates that he and all the other boys believed Hen Pack Hill, a mile east of
Palmyra, would open to allow a giant to step forth and place his foot upon
Palmyra to crush it. This would be the end of all disbelievers in Mormonism,
and the Saints would at once be gathered together in that vicinity. “I did not
know then,” says Mr. Van Camp, “how easy it is for men to lie.”

Mr. Van Camp is about seventy years old, and Major John H. Gilbert,
who still resides in Palmyra, is about seventy-six. Both of these gentlemen were
working in the office of the Wayne Sentinel, E. B. Grandin proprietor, during
the months from September, 1829, to March, 1830, the time during which the
Book of Mormon was in process of printing. The office was in the third story of
a building now known as “Exchange Row,” in the principal street of Palmyra.
The foreman was Mr. Pomeroy Tucker, who afterward published a work on
Mormonism. Major Gilbert was a compositor and also a dancing-master. His
duties in the latter calling took him away from his “case” so frequently that Van
Camp “distributed” [the type] in order to give him a chance to work the next
day. The “copy” was on ruled paper — an expensive thing in those days — and
the letters were so closely crowded together that words like and or the were di¬
vided at the end of the line. The copy was in Cowdery’s handwriting, but it was
produced from a tightly-buttoned coat every morning by Hyrum Smith. One
day’s supply only was given at a time, and even this was carefully taken away at
night, there being but one occasion when permission was given to Major Gil-

15. See III.A.14, WILLARD CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11
DEC 1833, 245.

16. See III.K.ll, EBER D. HOWE ACCOUNT, 1834, 18; and
I.A.17, ORSON PRATT ACCOUNT, 1840, 13-14.

17. For Mather’s account of Smith’s history in the Harmony, Pennsyl¬
vania, area, see V.C.6, SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY PJESIDENTS IN¬
TERVIEWS WITH FREDERICK G. MATHER, JUL 1880.

18. Tucker, however, said Gilbert was foreman (IIIJ.5, POMEROY
TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1858).

143

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

bert to take it away from the office. Major Gilbert and others say that David
Whitner [Whitmer] of Richmond, Missouri, has this manuscript copy; and it
has been stated recently that he has been called upon by officials from Salt Lake
City to produce it, and refused.

There were no marks of punctuation in the copy — a sore trial to both
Tucker and Gilbert in “reading proof.” At such times Cowdery occasionally
“held the copy.” In the absence of Cowdery the proof-readers often resorted
to the orthodox Bible to verify some foggy passage. The “matter” was
“paged” so that thirty-two pages could be printed at a time on one of Hoe’s
“Smith” six-column hand-presses. After the sheets had been run through
once and properly dried, they were reversed and printed on the other side.
The bookbinder then folded them by hand, and severed them with an ivory
paper-cutter. The result was that the [p. 204] twenty-five hundred large
sheets made five thousand small sheets, with sixteen pages printed upon each
side. Major Gilbert has an unbound copy of the book, which he saved, sheet
by sheet, as it came from the press.

Martin Harris furnished the funds for printing the book by a mortgage
of three thousand dollars on his farm.^^ He celebrated the completion of the
work by inviting all the printers to his house. Mrs. Harris (the same who
secreted the manuscript at Susquehanna) had not signed the mortgage. Harris
brought his guests within the door — as Van Camp relates it — and introduced
them to his wife, who bowed coldly and took no pains to welcome them.
At length Harris asked for the cider-pitcher, and went to the spot indicated
by his wife. Returning with it in his hand, he showed a large hole in the
bottom. “Well,” said Mrs. Harris, “it has as much bottom as your old Bible
has.” There was enough bottom to the Bible, however, to give a comfortable
sum of money to “Joseph Smith, Jr., Author and Proprietor.” Orlando
Sanders, son of Alonzo Sanders before mentioned, says that the Smiths made
too much money to walk any longer: he sold them a horse, and he now has
a Bible which he took in payment for a bridle. ... [p. 205]

...^^ Major Gilbert testified that [Sidney] Rigdon^^ dogged Smith’s

19. Footnote in original reads: “A note of inquiry has elicited from
this sole survivor of the original ‘three witnesses’ the information that he has
this manuscript. Perhaps he may yet startle the Mormon world by publishing
a facsimile edition of the original ‘translation.’”

20. See IILL.14, MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829.

21. Mather’s discussion of the Spaulding theory (pp. 205-206) is here
deleted, except for the following statement from John H. Gilbert.

22. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to LA. 13, SID¬
NEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

144

INTERVIEWS WITH FREDERICK G. MATHER, 1880

footsteps about Palmyra for nearly two years before the Bible was printed.^^
He is of opinion that Rigdon was among those who listened to Spalding in
Conneaut, and took notes on those occasions. The [Mormon] Bible itself
is full of the religious questions which stirred the people of Western New
York in those days — a most strange thing in a celestial work of such great
antiquity.

Immediately after the publication of the Book the Church was duly
organized at Manchester.^'’ On April 6, 1830, six members were ordained
elders — -Joseph Smith, Sr., Joseph Smith, Jr., Hyrum Smith, Samuel Smith,
Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Knight. The first conference was held at
Fayette, Seneca county, in June. A special “revelation” at this time made
Smith’s wife “the Elect Lady Daughter of God [D&C 25],” with the
high-sounding title of “Electa Cyria.” In later years this lady became
disgusted with her husband’s religion, and refused after his death to leave
Illinois for Utah. She remained in Nauvoo, and married a Gentile named
[Lewis] Bidamon. For a long time she kept the Mansion House in that place,
where she died April 30, 1879.

Another revelation was to the effect that Palmyra was not the gather¬
ing-place of the Saints, after all, but that they should proceed to Kirtland in
Ohio. Consequently, the early part of 1831 saw them colonized in that place,
the move being known as “The First Hegira.” ... [p. 206] ...

FREDERIC[K] G. MATHER, [p. 211]

23. This was Gilbert’s opinion based on the testimony of Lorenzo
Saunders (see IILB.8, JOHN H. GILBERT INTERVIEW, 1881; and
IILH.4, JOHN H. GILBERT TO JAMES T. COBB, 14 OCT 1879).

24. Gilbert’s opinion is not based upon fact.

25. Many early sources name Manchester as the location of the
church’s organization on 6 April 1830 (see LA. 15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 82).

26. At the organization of the church. Smith and Cowdery were the
only two ordained elders. Not until 9 June 1830 were Joseph Sr. and Hyrum
ordained priests and Samuel an elder. Joseph Knight was present at the organi¬
zation but not baptized until 28 June 1830 (see discussion in introduction to
IV.A.4, JOSEPH KNIGHT, JR., STATEMENT, 11 AUG 1862).

27. This conference was held 9 June 1830 (see VLG.2, FAR WEST
RECORD, 9 JUN 1830, 26 SEP 1830 & 2 JAN 1831).

145

14.

Anna Ruth Eaton Statement, 1881

Anna Ruth Eaton, The Origin ofMormonism (New York: Woman’s Executive
Committee of Home Missions, 1881), 4 pp. Also published in Wayne County
Journal, 28 July 1881; and John McCutchen Coyner, Hand-Book on Mormon-
ism (Salt Lake City: Hand-Book Publishing Co., 1882), 1-4.

EDITORIAL NOTE

On 27 May 1881, Anna Ruth (Webster) Eaton (?-1910) of Palmyra,
New York, delivered a speech at the Union Home Missionary Meeting
held at Buffalo, New York, titled “The Origin ofMormonism.” Having
moved to Palmyra with her husband, the Reverend Horace Eaton, ^ in
1849 — long after the events she attempts to describe — Eaton would have
had to rely on the testimony of others, which she unfortunately fails to
identify specifically (although she evidently bases much of her statement
on the published accounts of Orsamus Turner and Pomeroy Tucker).
Compared with her husband, who made only passing references to Mor-
monism in his published sermons,^ the following statement by Anna is
quite lengthy.

DEAR SISTERS. — A ride of less than three hours on the New York
Central, due east, will bring you to the town of Palmyra, in the vicinity of
which, the system ofMormonism was initiated. In this town it has been my

1. The Reverend Horace Eaton served as pastor of Palmyra’s East Pres¬
byterian Church from February 1849 to at least 1877 (McIntosh 1877, 147).
The Eatons moved to Palmyra from New Hampshire (see Eaton Family File,
Palmyra King’s Daughters and Free Library, Palmyra, New York; T. Cook
1930, 148, 250).

2. The following is an example: “Joseph Smith, the apostle of the Lat¬
ter Day Saints, came to Palmyra from Sharon, Vermont, when ten years of
age. When fifteen years old he began to see visions. On the night of Septem¬
ber 21st, 1823, an Angel (?) ordained him to his great work. September 22nd
1827, the Angel placed in his hands the golden plates and the Urim and
Thummim by which to translate them. The house where the translation was
completed, the old press which struck off the pages are still with us. But if the
Mormon Prophet and the Hydesville ghosts did hail from Palmyra, they did
not stay here. If we must own the deceivers, the deluded belong elsewhere”

(H. Eaton 1876, 33-34; see also H. Eaton 1858, 22).

146

ANNA RUTH EATON STATEMENT, 1881

privilege to reside for the last thirty-two years. I speak to you from credible
testimony. Western New York has strong soil and rank weeds are incidental
to strong soil. We must own the deceivers. “They went out from us, but
they were not of us.” The deceived were elsewhere.

As far as Mormonism was connected with its reputed founder, Joseph,
always called “Joe Smith,” it had its origin in the brain and heart of an ignorant,
deceitful mother. Joe Smith’s mother moved in the lowest walks of life, but she
had a kind of mental power, which her son shared. With them both, the
imagination was the commanding faculty. It was “vain” but vivid. To it was
subsidized reason, conscience, truth. Both mother and son were noted for a
habit of extravagant assertion. They would look a listener full in the eye, and
without confusion or blanching, would fluently improvise startling state¬
ments and exciting stories, the warp and woof of which were alike sheer
falsehood. Was an inconsistency alluded to, nothing daunted, a subterfuge
was always at hand. As one old man, who knew them well, said to me. “You
could’nt face them down. They’d lie and stick to it.” Many of the noblest
specimens of humanity have arisen from a condition of honest poverty; but
few of these from one of dishonest poverty. Agur apprehended the danger
when he said, “lest I be poor and steal.” Mrs. Smith used to go to the houses
of the village, and do family washings. But if the articles were left to dry
upon the lines and not secured by their owners before midnight, the washer
was often the winner — and in these nocturnal depredations she was assisted
by her boys, who favored in like manner poultry yards and grain bins. Her
son Joe never worked save at chopping bees and raisings, and then whisky
was the impetus and the reward. The mother of the high-priest of Mormon¬
ism was superstitious to the last degree. The very air she breathed was
inhabited by “familiar spirits that peeped and wizards that muttered.” She
turned many a penny by tracing in the lines of the open palm the fortunes
of the inquirer.^ All ominous signs were heeded. No work was commenced
on Friday. The moon over the left shoulder portended calamity; the breaking
of a mirror, death. Even in the old Green Mountain State [of Vermont],
before the family immigrated to the Genesee country, the then West, Mrs.
Smith’s mind was made up that one of her sons should be a prophet."^ The
weak father agreed with her that Joseph was the “genus” of their nine
children.^ So it was established that Joseph should be the prophet. To such

3. See III.D.3, CHRISTOPHER M. STAFFORD STATEMENT,

23 MAR 1885.

4. See III.J.2, ORSAMUS TURNER ACCOUNT, 1851, 213.

5. See III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 17.

147

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

an extent did the mother impress this idea upon the boy, that all the instincts
of childhood were restrained. He rarely smiled or laughed.^ “His looks and
thoughts were always downward bent.” He never indulged in demonstra¬
tions of fun, since they would not be in keeping with the profound dignity
of his allotted vocation. His mother inspired and aided him in every scheme
of duplicity and cunning. All acquainted with the facts agree in saying that
the evil spirit of Mormonism dwelt first in Joe Smith’s mother.

Bad books had much to do with the origin of Mormonism, Joe Smith could
read. He could not write. His two standard volumes were “The Life of
Stephen Burroughs,” the clerical scoundrel, and the autobiography of Capt.
Kidd, the pirate.^ This latter work was eagerly and often perused. There was
a fascination to him in the charmed lines:

“My name was Robert Kidd,

As I sailed, as I sailed.

And most wickedly I did.

And God’s laws I did forbid.

As I sailed, as I sailed.”

At the early age of fifteen [1821?], while watching his father digging a
well, Joe espied a stone of curious shape. ^ It must have borne resemblance to
the stone foot of Buddha, which Mrs. House^ tells us of at Bankok, Siam. All
the difference, this was smaller, like a child’s foot. At any rate, it has left
footprints on the sands of time. “This little stone was the acorn of the Mormon
oak.” This was the famous Palmyra “seer” or “peek stone,” with whichjoseph
Smith did most certainly divine. Being before instructed of his mother, he
immediately set up a claim to miraculous power. In a kneehng posture, with
a bandage on [p. 1] his eyes, so luminous was the sight without it, with the
stone in a large white stove-pipe hat, and this hat in front of his face, he saw
things unutterably wonderful. He could reveal, full too well, the place where
stolen property, or wandering flocks could be found. Caskets of gold stored
away by the Spaniards, or by his hero, the redoubtable Captain Kidd, coffers

6. See IILJ.15, STEPHEN HARDING TO THOMAS GREGG,

FEB 1882, 39.

7. See III J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 17.

8. According to Willard Chase, the stone was discovered in 1822
while Smith was helping him dig a well on his father’s property (III. A. 14,
WILLARD CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11 DEC 1833, 240-41).

9. This person remains unidentified.

10. See IILL6, JESSE TOWNSEND TO PHINEAS STILES, 24
DEC 1833, which was published in Tucker 1867, 288-91.

148

ANNA RUTH EATON STATEMENT, 1881

of gems, oriental treasures, the “wealth of Ormus and of Ind,” gleamed
beneath the ground in adjacent fields and woodlands. Digging became the
order of the night, and sleep that of the day. Father and brothers, decayed
neighbors, all who could be hired with cider or strong drink, were organized
into a digging phalanx. They sallied forth in the darkness. Solemn ceremonies
prefaced the work. Not a sod was disturbed by the spades, till Joe’s mystic
wand, the witch hazel, guided by the sacred stone, pointed out the golden
somewhere. Entire silence was one condition of success. When hours had
passed, and the answering thud on the priceless chest was about to strike the
ear, some one, in a rapture of expectancy, always broke the spell by speaking,
the riches were spirited away to another quarter, and the digging must be
resumed another night. Thus matters went on for some seven or eight years.
Little or no attention was paid to the performances of Smith near his home.
Lovers of the marvelous from other towns now and then came in to see and
hear some new thing. People from greater distances visited the several
excavations and wondered. Newspapers heralded and ridiculed. But so far
it amounted to nothing, unless it created a certain atmosphere heavy with
myth and mystery, favorable to to future developments.

The perseverance of Joe Smith was equal to his audacity. Both were
boundless. But he alone could never have wrought out the institution of
Mormonism. Here we have “black spirits, red spirits and gray.” Early in
the summer of 1827 a “mysterious stranger” seeks admit[t]ance to Joe
Smith’s cabin. The conferences of the two are most private. This person,
whose coming immediately preceded a new departure in the faith, was
Sidney Rigdon,^^ a backsliding clergyman, at this time a CampbeUite
preacher in Mentor, Ohio. Now we have “a literary genius behind the
screen.” Rigdon was versatile in his gifts, had a taste for theological and
scientific discussion, was shrewd, wily, deep and withal utterly unprinci¬
pled. Soon after his appearance on the stage, Mormonism begins to assume
“a local habitation and a name.” Now the angel talks more definitely to
Smith, tells him aU his sins are pardoned, that none of the sects are accepted
of God as his church, but that he shall establish one the Almighty will
own; that the North American Indians are a remnant of the Israelites; that
hidden beneath the ground are their inspired writings: that these are to
be entrusted to him, and to him only, as none other can see them and

11. See III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 27.

12. See IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 28.

13. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to III. A. 13, SID¬
NEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

149

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

live. In the stillness of night Smith seeks alone his hill-top of Cumorah,
an eminence four miles south of Palmyra, eight north of Canandaigua.
Confronted by the very pyrotechnics of Pluto, he averred that he obtained
from that place a series of golden plates, on which were written in hi¬
eroglyphics, the records so important in the new dispensation.^"^ Accom¬
panying the plates is a pair of huge spectacles, the Urim and Thummim,
by the aid of which the tablets are to become available. He soon finds it
convenient to visit relatives in Pennsylvania, in which state, Rigdon was
then sojourning.^^ After a while he returns with an accurate translation.
He appeals to the cupidity of a rich farmer, a semi-monomaniac, and
prevails upon him to mortgage his estate to pay for the printing. Here is
a copy taken off in sheets from the first edition, kindly loaned me by
Major John Gilbert, of Palmyra, the venerable printer, who finished the
work in 1830. ... [p. 2] ...^^

One thought more — and it is a solemn one — Mormonism may have
risen from neglect on the part of Christian workers. We have no knowledge of
the religious influences thrown around the Smith family when living in
Vermont. At twelve years of age Joe came to Palmyra,^^ and should have
been immediately secured in one of its Sabbath schools. As far [as] we
can learn, not any of the family were invited cordially, heartily to the
house of God. Some of them strolled in occasionally. But no persistent
effort was made to induce them to become regular attendants. The children
were not repeatedly visited, clothed or helped to clothe themselves that
they might attend the Sabbath school. And this in a community distin¬
guished for the godliness of its early settlers. Had they expressed to the
visitor a preference for a denomination other than his own, he should
promptly and honorably have given over their names and locality to the
pastor of the church of their choice.

Depend upon it, there were redeeming traits somewhere in this family.
Joseph Smith’s mother was not a malignant woman. She knew the virtues
of remedial roots and herbs, and was ever ready to administer and assist when

14. See III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 29-30.

15. This historically incorrect statement is taken from IILJ.8,
POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 56.

16. Eaton’s rehearsal of the Spaulding theory (pp. 2-3) is here deleted.

17. Smith arrived in Palmyra with his mother during the winter of
1816-17, when he was either ten or eleven (see LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1845, n. 69).

150

ANNA RUTH EATON STATEMENT, 1881

her lowly neighbors were sick or dying. But ladies of piety and culture
never visited Mrs. Smith in her home in a sequestered neighborhood two or
three miles from the village, never sat down by her side, and, in a unpatronizing
manner, sympathized with her in her many cares and labors, wisely dropped
a word of friendly advice, supplied the family with reading for the week days
and the Sabbath days, and by all possible methods made them feel that they
loved their souls. No male member of the church halted as he passed the door
of the rude, unpainted house on a Sabbath morning, and found room in his
capacious family carriage or sleigh for any of the little or big Smiths, that
they might go up to the temple of the Lord, and learn to worship there. To
the inquiry, “Why was not more done to win them to a better life,” I received
this reply, — “Oh, they were such an awful family. Nobody wanted to go
there. Nobody could. Why, they were the torment and the terror of the
neig[h]borhood.” Our beloved Master '"came to seek and to save that which was
lost.[''] They said of Him, "He was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.''
He was not ashamed or afraid to touch with His hand — mark, with His
hand — the demoniac and the leper. Had His dear children in early day
reached out theirs to this poor, outcast household, possibly this terrible ulcer
of Mormonism might not now be corroding into the very vitals of the
nation’s purity and life. [p. 3] ...

18. CaroHne Rockwell said Lucy Smith “doctored many persons in
Palmyra” (IILD.5, CAROLINE ROCKWELL SMITH STATEMENT, 25
MAR 1885; see also IILJ.17, WILLIAM H. CUYLER STATEMENT,
1884).

151

15.

STEPHEN S. HABJ3ING TO THOMAS GREGG,
FEBRUARY 1882

Thomas Gregg, The Prophet of Palmyra (New York: John B. Alden, 1890),
34-56.

EDITORIAL NOTE

In late 1881 Thomas Gregg (1808-?), a native of Belmont County,
Ohio, and a prolific newspaper editor and publisher in northwestern Illinois,^
wrote to former Utah territorial governor Stephen S. Harding,^ then a
resident of Milan, Indiana, requesting information about Mormon origins in
his hometown of Palmyra, New York. On 6 January 1882 a nearly blind
Harding dictated a letter to his daughter, which expressed his willingness to
make a statement but explained his physical limitations in doing so. He
suggested that Gregg either come personally or send a representative to take
down his reminiscence. As an inducement for Gregg’s added trouble in
obtaining his statement, Harding said: “If I were in a condition to write I
could give you a detailed statement of the night I spent at Smith’s that would
be full of interest to your readers ... [or] the night when the book of Mormon
was read to me from manuscript ... [or] the willd [wild?] fanaticism especially
of Harris and old man Smith and his wife” (Stephen S. Harding to Thomas
Gregg, 6 January 1882, Mormon Collection, Chicago Historical Society,
Chicago, Illinois).

On 9 February 1882 Gregg sent a letter to Harding explaining the
arrangements he had made for obtaining the latter’s statement. Subsequently,
during the same month, Harding dictated his reminiscences to a “Mr.
Wilson,” who was evidently paid by Gregg for his services (see Stephen S.
Harding to Thomas Gregg, 13 March 1882, Mormon Collection, Chicago
Historical Society, Chicago, illinois). For another Harding letter, see III.J.7,

1. Gregg’s editorial work includes The Literary Cabinet (1833, Ohio),
Western Adventurer (1838, Montrose, Wisconsin), the Carthagenian (1836-37),
the first paper published in Carthage, Illinois, the Warsaw Signal (1847-48),
and the Hamiltonian Representative (1858-62).

2. On Stephen S. Harding (1808-?), see introduction to III.J.7,
STEPHEN S. HARDING TO POMEROY TUCKER, 1 JUN 1867.

152

STEPHEN S. HARDING TO THOMAS GREGG, 1882

STEPHEN S. HAPDING TO POMEROY TUCKER, 1 JUN 1867.

MILAN, IND., Feb., 1882.

DEAR SIR: — Yours of the 9th January duly received, and I send you this
reply. The incidents [p. 34] I am about to relate would not be worth repeating
only as illustrative of the wild fanaticism, superstition, and credulity of persons
upon whose veracity mainly depends the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
That such a book, replete with self-evident plagiarisms and humbuggery,
that sink it below the dignity of criticism, should find tens of thousands of
persons of ordinary intelligence throughout Christendom, who have ac¬
cepted it as a Revelation from God to man, is indeed a moral phenomenon
unparalleled in the nineteenth century. In view of these things it is not strange
that some daring iconoclast should go forth with his merciless sledge,
breaking in fragments the shrines and idols that for thousands of years have
struck with reverential awe the hearts of untold millions of men, and leading
captive the human will.

In the summer of 1829, 1 resolved to return to the place of my nativity,
in the vicinity of Palmyra, N.Y. It was from this place that my father had
emigrated in the spring of 1820, with his large family, to the newly admitted
State of Indiana. This was before the days of railroads, and I took stage from
Cincinnati for Cleveland, from Cleveland down the lake shore for Buffalo,
where I saw, for the first time, the great canal, only recently completed. On
this I took passage for Palmyra.

In these nine years of transition from boyhood to manhood, most
striking changes had taken place. My old-time playmates were no longer
little boys and girls, but grown-up men and women; some of whom had
taken their positions in society as husbands and wives, fathers and mothers.
Others had gone down to early graves that had

“Hidden from the living
The full-blown promise of life that was.^' [p. 35]

When I left my home in the West, I had never heard of Mormonism,
by that name. When I was a student at Brookville [Indiana], in the faU of 1827,
the Brookville Enquirer was laid upon my table, when my eye feU upon a
paragraph, credited to some Eastern paper, of the finding of a book ofmetaUic
plates, called the “Golden Bible. It was found by a young man by the name

3. The only issue of the Brookville Enquirer from the year 1827 which I
have been able to locate is that of 30 October (vol. 2, no. 48); but this issue
does not mention the Book of Mormon. Although the Enquirer occasionally

153

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

of Joe Smith, who had spent his time for several years in telling fortunes and
digging for hidden treasures, and especially for pots and iron chests of money,
supposed to have been buried by Captain Kidd. This paragraph interested me
more at the time from the fact that all this had happened near the village of
Palmyra, N.Y. I had at the time no certain recollection as to who this “Joe
Smith” was; but remembered having seen a long-legged, tow-headed boy of
that name, who was generally fishing in the mill-pond at Durfee’s grist-mill,
on Mud Creek, when my elder brother and I went to miU. This boy was
about three years older than myself, and it turned out that he was the veritable
finder of the “Golden Bible.”

Of course the paragraph in the Enquirer passed without further notice
at the time, and the whole subject was forgotten, until I found myself in the
very neighborhood where the thing had happened. At the time the Book of
Mormon had not been printed, and no Mormon church had been organized.

1 do not believe that such a thing as the latter had ever been seriously
contemplated, and that the publication of the Book of Mormon had for its
object only the making of money, by publishing and putting on sale a book
that could be readily sold as a curiosity at a high profit. Nevertheless, there
was something so unusual in the affair, that it excited a good deal of curiosity
and comment. The fact that such a man as Martin Harris'^ should mort[p.
36] gage his farm for a large sum, to secure the publisher for printing the
book,^ should abandon the cultivation of one of the best farms in the
neighborhood, and change all his habits of life from industry to indolence
and general shiftlessness, was truly phenomenal. He, at the same time, was
the only man among all the primitive Mormons who was responsible in a
pecuniary sense for a single doUar. Nevertheless, he had become absolutely
infatuated, and believed that an immense fortune could be made out of the
enterprise. The misfortune that attended Harris from that day did not consist
in the loss of money merely, and the general breaking up of his business as

reprinted items from other papers, it is nevertheless doubtful that an article
about the discovery of gold plates in Manchester, New York, appeared as
early as the fall of 1827, as Harding claimed; the earliest notices from Smith’s
own neighborhood date to 26 June 1829 (see III.E.l, WAYNE SENTINEL,
1824-1836, under 26 June 1829). Unfortunately, the current files of the En¬
quirer skip from 12 July 1828 to 4 January 1833, so the possibility of Harding
seeing an item from 1829 cannot be verified.

4. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

5. This occurred on 25 August 1829 (see IILL.14, MARTIN HAR¬
RIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829).

154

STEPHEN S. HARDING TO THOMAS GREGG, 1882

a farmer; but the blight and ruin fell upon all his domestic relations — causing
his separation from his wife and family forever. In early life he had been
brought up a Quaker, then took to Methodism as more congenial to his
nature. He was noted as one who could quote more Scripture than any man
in the neighborhood; and as a general thing could give the chapter and verse
where some important passage could be found. If one passage more than
another seemed to be in his mind, it was this: “God has chosen the weak
things of this world to confound the wise.” His eccentricities and idiosyn¬
crasies had been charitably passed over by all who knew him, until his
separation from his wife and family, when he was looked upon as utterly
infatuated and crazy. I had been acquainted with this man when a little boy,
until my father emigrated from that neighborhood in 1820. He was inti¬
mately acquainted with my father’s family, and on several occasions had
visited our house, in company with Mrs. Harris. None in all that neighbor¬
hood were more promising in their future prospects than they. [p. 37]

Upon my return to Palmyra, and learning that Martin Harris was the
only man of any account, as we say in the West, among all of his near
associates, it was but natural that I should seek an early interview with him.
I found him at the printing office of the Wayne Sentinel in Palmyra, where
the Book of Mormon was being printed. He had heard several days before of
my arrival in the neighborhood, and expressed great pleasure at seeing me.
A moment or two after, I was introduced to Oliver Cowdery,^ Joseph Smith,
Sen.,^ and then to the young “Prophet” himself.

Here was a most remarkable quartette of persons. I soon learned that
at least three of them were in daily attendance at the printing-office, and that
they came and went as regularly as the rising and setting of the sun. I have
the authority of Martin Harris himself, who stated that some one hundred
and fifty pages, more or less, of the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon
had been stolen, lost, or destroyed, by some evil-minded person,^ and that
the angel of the Lord had appeared to young Joseph and informed him that
the devil had appeared in the form of a man or woman, and had possessed
himself of the sacred MS. [manuscript]; and Joseph had been commanded by
the angel to thenceforth always have at least three witnesses to watch over
it when in the hands of the printers. This was the reason given me at the

6. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

7. On Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

8. See introduction to III.L.16, BOOK OF MORMON PILEFACE,

1829.

155

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

time by Harris, why at least three persons should bring the MS. [manuscript]
to the office immediately after sunrise, and take it away before sunset in the

evening.

After my introduction to Cowdery and the Smiths, I entered into
conversation with them — especially with Cowdery and the father of the
prophet. But young Joe was hard to be approached. He was very taciturn,
and sat most of the time as silent as a Sphynx, seeming to have no [p. 38]
recollection of ever having seen me when fishing in Durfee’s mill-pond. This
young man was by no means of an ordinary type. He had hardly ever been
known to laugh in his childhood^^; and would never work or labor like other
boys; and was noted as never having had a fight or quarrel with any other
person. But notwithstanding this last redeeming trait, he was hard on birds’
nests, and in telling what had happened would exaggerate to such an extent,
that it was a common saying in the neighborhood: “That is as big a lie as
young Joe ever told.”

He was about six feet high, what might be termed long-legged, and
with big feet. His hair had turned from tow-color to light auburn, large eyes
of a bluish gray, a prominent nose, and a mouth that of itself was a study.
His face seemed almost colorless, and with little or no beard.

Indeed (in the language of Martin Harris): “What change a few years
will make in everything!” And what a demonstration of this truth was
afforded in the life and career of the man before me. At that time his weight
was about one hundred and fifty pounds, he had not a dollar in the world,
and his character was such that credit was impossible. Let the mind pass over
the career of this man to the date of his marriage with Emma Hale; his
banking and temple-building at Kirtland; his flight as a fugitive from that
place to Independence and Far West, Missouri; his forcible expulsion from
that State to Nauvoo; the springing up of a city of 20,000 people as if by
magic; and where, beside his divine appointment as “Prophet, Seer, and
Revelator,” he became Lieut. -General of a Legion that would make a
respectable standing army, mounted on a blooded charger in all the military
trappings, that filled with awe the thousands of his followers, and even the
outside [p. 39] Gentiles. He had now reached the zenith of his glory; and
fifteen years from the time I met him at the printing-office, he had become
a millionaire, notwithstanding his harem of numerous spiritual wives and
concubines.

9. See III.H.IO, JOHN H. GILBERT MEMOPJVNDUM, 8 SEP

1892.

10. See IILJ.14, ANNA RUTH EATON STATEMENT, 1881, 1.

156

STEPHEN S. HARDING TO THOMAS GREGG, 1882

In the neighborhood of Palmyra there lived another prophet, older and
wiser than the Mormon prophet. This was old George Crane, ^ who had
been born and brought up a Quaker. On one occasion Smith and Cowdery
had gone to the house of George, who had manifested some interest in the
pretended translation. It was in the evening, and when several chapters had
been read, Mr. Crane, who had been an attentive Hstener, in his straightfor¬
ward, Quaker soberness said: “Joseph, thy book is blasphemous; and I counsel
thee to mend thy ways, or thee will come to some bad end.” George Crane
lived to see the fulfilment of that prophecy, when this greatest of all modern
deceivers fell out of the back window of the Carthage jail riddled with
bullets.

I had arrived at the printing-office about nine in the morning, and after
my interview with Harris, and introduction, as aforesaid, I spent an hour or
two with E. B. Grandin^^ and Pomeroy Tucker,^^ proprietor and foreman
of the Sentinel. From these gentlemen I learned many particulars that were
new to me. I expressed a desire to read the manuscript then in process of
being printed; but was informed by them that that was hardly possible,
inasmuch as a few sheets only at a time were used as copy in the hands of
the printers; and that probably Cowdery and Smith would have no objection
to reading it to me, if I would give them an opportunity without interfering
with their duties at the office.

It was now noon, and I went home with my cousin (Mr. Tucker) to
dinner. On returning to [p. 40] the oflSce, I found Harris, Cowdery, and the
Smiths had remained, substituting a lunch for a regular dinner. My intimacy
with them was renewed, and Harris talked incessantly to me on the subject
of dreams, and the fearful omens and signs he had seen in the heavens. Of
course I became greatly interested, and manifested a desire to hear the
miraculous MS. [manuscript] read; and it was agreed that I should go out
with them to the house of the elder Smith, and remain over night. In the
mean time, I remarked that but one at a time left the printing office, even
for a short period.

11. On George Crane, see III.K.14, JOHN BARBER AND HENRY
HOWE ACCOUNT, 1841, n. 4.

12. Compare Harding’s version of Crane’s prediction with III.K.14,
JOHN BARBER AND HENRY HOWE ACCOUNT, 1841; see also
III.D.7, JOSEPH ROGERS STATEMENT, 16 MAY 1887.

13. On Egbert B. Grandin (1806-45), see III.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 77.

14. On Pomeroy Tucker (1802-70), see introduction to III.J.5,
POMEROY TUCKER REMINISCENCE, 1858.

157

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

The sun had now got down to he roofs of the houses, and the typos
had laid by their work. Each page of the MS. [manuscript] that had been
used as copy was delivered to Cowdery, and we prepared to return to Smith’s.
We arrived at our destination a few minutes before sunset. The Smith
residence consisted of a log house, not exactly a cabin. Upon our arrival, I
was ushered into the best room in company with the others. In a few
moments I was left alone, my companions having gone out on private
business. An interview with the family was being held by them in the other
part of the house. It was not long before they returned, accompanied by
Lucy Smith, the prophet’s mother. She came close to me, and taking me
by the hand, said:

“I’ve seed you before. You are the same young man that had on the
nice clothes, that I seed in my dream. You had on this nice ruffled shirt, with
the same gold breast-pin in it that you have now. Yes, jest ezactly sich a one
as this!” — suiting the action to the word, taking hold of the ruffle, and
scrutinizing the pin closely. It was not long till she left the room, and I,
following to the door, saw two stout, bare-footed girls, each with a tin bucket
of red raspberries. Soon after, the old [p. 41] man announced that supper was
ready. We went into the other part of the house, where supper was waiting,
consisting of brown bread, milk, and abundance of fine raspberries before
mentioned. There was no lack of these, and if any left the table without a
really good supper, it was not the fault of the hostess. She, good soul — full
sister to aU her sex — began to make excuses, saying:

“If I had only known what a nice visitor I was goin’ to have, I would
have put on the table flour bread, and not ryn’ Injun.”

I remarked that it needed no excuses; that the supper was good enough
for a king, and that the berries on the table were better than could be bought
in any city in America. Beside being true, this had the effect of quieting the
feelings of the old lady.

It was now time to begin the reading of the manuscript, and we retired
to the room we had occupied. This was before the days of lucifer matches,
and there being no fire, it took some time before a light could be brought
into the room. This was done by our good hostess, who set upon the table
a tin candlestick with a tallow dip in it, remarking: “This is the only candle
I can find in the house; I thought I had two, but mabby the rats has eat it
up.

Cowdery commenced his task of reading at the table, the others sitting

15. On Lucy Smith (1775-1856), see “Introduction to Lucy Smith
Collection.”

158

STEPHEN S. HARDING TO THOMAS GREGG, 1882

around. The reading had proceeded for some time, when the candle began
to spit and splutter, sometimes almost going out, and flashing up with a
red-blue blaze. Here was a phenomenon that could not be mistaken. To say
that the blaze had been interrupted by the flax shives that remained in the
tow wicking, would not do; but Martin Harris arrived at a conclusion “across
lots:” “Do you see that,” said he, directing his remark to me and the old
lady, who sat beside him. “I know what that means; it is the [p. 42] Devil
trying to put out the light, so that we can’t read any more.” “Yes,” replied
the old lady; “I seed ’im! I seed ’im! as he tried to put out the burnin’ wick,
when the blaze turned blue.”

The tallow dip shortened at such a fearful rate that the further reading
had to be abandoned. It was now past ten, and the other members of the
family retired. The MS. [manuscript] was carefully put away, and directions
given as to where we were to sleep. In the mean time Mother Smith loaded
a clay pipe with tobacco, which she ground up in her hands; a broom sphnt
was lighted in the candle, and the delicious fumes issued in clouds from the
old lady’s mouth.

She now began to talk incessantly for the little time that remained, and
told me at some length the dream that she had, when I appeared before her,
“in the nice suit of clothes and ruffled shirt,” as she expressed it; and
continued: “You’ll have visions and dreams, mebby, to-night; but don’t git
skeered; the angel of the Lord wiU protect you.”

After breakfast, in the morning, Mother Smith followed me as I arose
from the table, and plied me with questions as to whether I had had dreams,
and whether I had seen a vision that “skeered” me. I told her I had a dream,
but so strange that I could not tell it to her or any one else. The fact was
communicated to Harris and the rest. All saw that I looked sober, and I
determined to leave them in doubt and wonder.

We started back to Palmyra, Cowdery bearing in his hand the sacred
scroll. Martin was exceedingly anxious that I should give him at least some
glimpse of the strange things I had seen in my dream. I told him that was
impossible, and I began to doubt whether I ought to tell it to any human
being. They all became interested in my [p. 43] reply; and the prophet
himself, forgetting his taciturnity, said: “I can tell you what it was. I have felt
just as you do. Wait, and the angel of the Lord will open our eyes.” Here
we parted, and I returned to the home of my brother, [p. 44]

About two weeks after this I met Martin Harris. He was glad to see
me; inquired how I felt since my dream. He told me that since he saw me
at Mr. Smith’s, he had seen fearful signs in the heavens. That he was standing
alone one night, and saw a fiery sword let down out of heaven, and pointing

159

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

to the east, west, north, and south, then to the hill of Cumorah, where the
plates of Nephi were found. At another time, he said, as he was passing with
his wagon and horses from town, his horses suddenly stopped and would not
budge an inch. When he plied them with his whip, they commenced
snorting and pawing the earth as they had never done before. He then
commenced smelling brimstone, and knew the Devil was in the road, and
saw him plainly as he walked up the hill and disappeared. I said, “What did
he look like?”

He replied: “Stephen, I will give you the best description that I can.
Imagine a greyhound as big as a horse, without any tail, walking upright on
his hind legs.”^^

I looked at him with perfect astonishment. “Now, Stephen,” continued
he, “do tell me your dream.” I dropped my head and answered: “I am almost
afraid to undertake it.” He encouraged me, and said it was revealed to him
that an[p. 45]other vessel was to be chosen, and that Joseph had the gift of
interpreting dreams the same as Daniel, who was cast into the lions’ den. I
said, “Mr. Harris, after considering the matter, I conclude that I ought not
to repeat my dream to you, only on one condition: that you will pledge your
honor not to tell it to any one.” “Oh, do let me tell it to Joseph. He can tell
all about what it means.” “Well,” said I, “What I mean is, you may tell it to
whom you please, only you shall not connect my name with it.” “I’ll do it!
I’ll do it!” said he, hastily. “Joseph will be able to tell who it was, the same
as if I told the name.”

[Here the narrator proceeded to relate a wonderful dream that never
was dreamed, during the course of which he took occasion to describe some
characters that had appeared to him on a scroll — presenting some of them
with a pencil, a mixture of stenographic characters and the Greek alphabet,
rudely imitated. These were handed to Mr. Harris.]

Speechless with amazement, he looked at them for a moment, and then
springing to his feet, and turning his eyes toward heaven, with uplifted hands,
cried out:

“O Lord, God! the very characters that are upon the plates of Nephi!”

He looked again at the characters, and then at me, with perfect
astonishment. His excitement was such that I became positively alarmed, for
it seemed to me that he was going crazy. I began to have some compunctions
of conscience for the fraud that I had practiced upon him; for I might as well

16. See IILK.28, ALBERT CHANDLER TO WILLIAM LINN, 22
DEC 1898.

17. Brackets in original.

160

STEPHEN S. HARDING TO THOMAS GREGG, 1882

say just here, as well as anywhere, that the dream had been improvised for
the occasion. He suggested that we go to the house of old man Smith and
there relate my dream. I told him that I would never repeat it again to
anybody. He bade me good-bye, saying: “You are a chosen vessel of the
Lord.” [p. 46]

There is but one excuse for my conduct on this occasion; that was, to
fathom the depth of his credulity.

For the next two or three weeks I did not meet Harris or any of the
Smiths or Cowdery. About four weeks afterwards I again visited Palmyra,
and spent part of the day in the printing-office, where I found the prophet,
Cowdery, and Harris again. The latter took me by the hand with a grip and
a shake that were full of meaning; even the prophet himself shook hands
with me, looking me steadily in the eye as if new ideas possessed him in
regard to myself; and it was evident that my dream had been repeated to
these people, and that it was a puzzle to them all.

In the meantime the printing of the Book of Mormon was proceeding.
There was abundant evidence that the proof sheets had been carefully
corrected. The printing was done on a lever press of that period; and when
a sufficient number of pages for the entire edition of five thousand copies
had been completed, the type had to be distributed. This was a slow process
in comparison with what is done in a jobbing office of to-day. Mr. Tucker,
the foreman, had just received from Albany a font of new type, and had set
up with his own hands the title page of the Book of Mormon, and preparations
were now ready for the first impression. About this time the prophet’s father
also came in. He, too, had evidently heard of my dream, and shook my hand
most cordially. Mr. Grandin and two or three typos were present, as if curious
in seeing the first impression of the title page. Tucker took up the ink-balls
and made the form ready; then laying the blank sheet upon it, with one pull
at the lever the work was done; then taking the impression, looked at it a
moment, passed it to Cowdery, who scanned it carefully, and passed it to
the [p. 47] prophet himself, who seemed to be examining every letter, and
without speaking gave it into the hands of his father and Harris. It was then
returned to Tucker. Of course we all looked at it with more or less curiosity,
and the work was pronounced excellent. Tucker, who was my cousin, then
handed it to me, saying: “Here, Steve, I’ll give this to you. You may keep
it as a curiosity.” I thanked him, and put it carefully in my pocket.

It was not long until rumors of the dream had reached the ears of many
persons. Upon hearing this I felt some concerned, for I did not want to be
mixed up or identified with this thing in the least. But all of my apprehension
soon vanished, when I found my name had no connection with it, and that

161

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

the dream had been a real vision of the prophet himself! Of course this relieved
me of all apprehension, and greatly increased my desire to make further
experiments in this wild fanaticism.

My next subject was Calvin Stoddard, a very clever man, who had
been a kind of exhorter among the Methodists. He was a married man, and
lived with his wife [Sophronia Smith] in a frame house with unpainted
weather-boarding, that had become loose from age and exposure to wind
and weather. I had met Mr. Stoddard on several occasions, and his conver¬
sation generally turned on the subject of the new revelation. He said that we
were living in the latter days spoken of in the Bible, and that wonderful
things would come to pass on the earth; that he had seen signs in the heavens
that would satisfy any one that a new dispensation was coming. That young
Joseph had had a dream that was more wonderful than anything he had ever
read in the book of Daniel, and that if the village of Palmyra did not repent
it would meet the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Mr. Tucker, in his book, has referred to the [p. 48] call that was given
to Stoddard on one occasion, to preach the new gospel. In the main, his
statement is substantially true; nevertheless, it does great injustice to the
dramatic effect of the call that was given. Suffice it to say, that Stoddard and
his wife were among the primitive members of the Mormon Church, and
in obedience to the call, continued to preach the best that he could to the
close of his life. Requiscat in pace.

It was now getting about time for me to return West, and in the month
of September, 1829, I took passage on a canal packet for Buffalo. In the
meantime marvellous stories were being circulated throughout the neigh¬
borhood, in regard to the strange dream of the prophet, and the celestial call
of Calvin Stoddard to preach the new gospel. I had received from Harris and
Cowdery the first and second chapters of the Book of Mormon. These, with
the title page before mentioned, were carefully put away in my trunk. Three

18. On Calvin Stoddard (1801-36), who married Sophronia Smith in
1827, see IILJ.7, STEPHEN S. HARDING TO POMEROY TUCKER, 1
JUN 1867, n. 9.

19. On Sophronia Smith (1803-76), Joseph Smith’s oldest sister, see
LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, n. 16.

20. See IILJ.7, STEPHEN S. HARDING TO POMEROY
TUCKER, 1 JUN 1867, 285-86; and IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867, 80-81.

21. “May he rest in peace.” Stoddard’s “loud call” was reported in the
Palmyra Reflector (see IILE.3, PALMYRA PJEFLECTOR, 1829-31, 14, un¬
der 23 September 1829).

162

STEPHEN S. HARDING TO THOMAS GREGG, 1882

or four days before my embarkation, Martin Harris, in company with
Cowdery, met me at the village, manifesting a great deal of concern at my
intended departure, informing me that young Joseph had been having
visions. The day was fixed when I was to leave, and we separated, and the
reader may judge of my astonishment when Harris and Cowdery came on
board the boat at the first lock below the village, and approached me very
much excited, Martin particularly. He wanted to know if I was really starting
West. I informed him that I was going directly home to Indiana. He said
that the night before the angel of the Lord had visited Joseph, and informed
him that I was a [p. 49] chosen vessel of the Lord, and they must pursue me
at least as far as Rochester, and inform me of the commands of the angel,
and that I must remain in Palmyra until the printing of the Book of Mormon
was completed; after which I must go to the city of London and there remain
until the Lord would inform me what to do. This, I confess, was a new phase
in this wild fanaticism, and I felt very much puzzled and confounded. The
first I said was: “Where is the money to come from to pay my passage to
London?” “Oh,” said Martin, “the Lord will find the money. The Book of
Mormon will seU for thousands and thousands of dollars, and I can furnish the
money any day, if necessary.”

I confess that for a time I felt very much confused. I had bidden all my
friends good-bye, and could not have returned to Palmyra in company with
these men without seriously compromising myself And yet, what a temp¬
tation was here presented to me to play the role of the hypocrite and villain!

I had no complications, either of love or business, and was as free as the winds
that sweep over the prairies. Many times, since Mormonism has become a
most dangerous proselytism throughout all Christendom, have I asked
myself What if I had accepted the apple plucked from the tree of knowledge
of good and evil, crucified my own sense of honor and manhood, and sold
myself to the devil of ambition! It is hardly probable, notwithstanding all this,
that the Dead Sea fruit would have turned to ashes on my lips.

They continued with me until we arrived at Rochester, where we
parted. In the mean time it seemed as if these messengers sent to intercept
me would hardly take “No” for an answer. Martin, with great earnestness,
dwelt upon the danger of disobeying the commands of the Lord, and
prophesied that I would soon be removed from the earth, [p. 50] and most
probably before I reached my destination, quoting several passages of
Scripture fitting my case. On leaving, they shook me by the hand most
heartily, Martin warning me of the dangers ahead. The whole scene was
worthy of the profoundest study. Here were two men, whose names will go
down through the ages as witnesses to the divine authenticity of the Book of

163

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

Mormon, whose superstition and credulity were such as to unseat all confi¬
dence in what are termed miracles; and yet, at that time, the evidence of
Martin Llarris would have been received in a court of justice against all of
the Smiths, Pages, and Whitmers, who have published to the world, in the
presence of God, that they had “seen and hefted” the miraculous plates! This,
it will be remembered, was before Brigham Young, Heber Kimball, or John
Taylor had ever heard of the new dispensation.

In 1847, after the expulsion of the Mormons from Nauvoo, I came
home one Saturday night from court, and found a stranger at my house. This
was not remarkable, for it was generally understood that my doors had never
been shut in the face of any human being in distress, black or white. He was
a middle-aged man, an Englishman, named [Robert] Campbell. He told
me that he had come from the city of Nauvoo, and was going to some place
in Ohio; had heard of me before he left Nauvoo, and hoped I would not
consider it an intrusion if he stayed over until Monday morning. He was
really an inoffensive-looking person, and was possessed of considerable
inteUigence. He had emigrated from England a few years before, and was,
by trade, a copper-plate engraver. During his stay in my house, I informed
him that I had the first title page of the Book of Mormon, that was ever printed,
and briefly related to him how it came into my possession. I produced it,
and as he examined the strange [p. 51] relic it was evident that a feeling of
awe and veneration had come over him. “Is it possible! Is it possible!”
exclaimed he, his eyes still fixed upon it. “The hand of the Lord is in it.” He
continued to examine it with so much fascination, I said: “You take so much
interest in this that I will give it to you.”

“Will you let me take it away?” said he.

“Oh, yes, sir, you may keep it as your own,” I said.

“Thank you, sir! God bless you. The angel of the Lord must have
directed me to this house.” He said it would add greatly to the value of the
relic, if I would write something over my own name. I told him I would do
so, and wrote the following:

“This is the first title page of the Book of Mormon that was ever printed.
It was printed in the presence of Joseph Smith, Jr., Joseph Smith, Sr., Oliver
Cowdery, Martin Harris, and myself, at the office of the Wayne Sentinel,
Palmyra, New York, August, 1829, — and which was examined and handled
by all the persons above named, and the same is hereby respectfully presented
to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. STEPHEN S. HARD-

22. On Robert L. CampbeU (1825-74), see IILJ.7, STEPHEN S.
HAILDING TO POMEROY TUCKER, 1 JUN 1867, n. 7.

164

STEPHEN S. HARDING TO THOMAS GREGG, 1882
ING, of Milan, Ind.”^^

It will be seen, hereafter, how a little crumb of bread cast upon the
waters will be returned. This man was evidently as honest and sincere in his
belief as any member of the most orthodox church. When I went to the
territory of Utah as Governor, in 1862, Mr. Campbell was almost the first
one to meet me. He held a clerkship in Salt Lake City. He was really glad
to see me, and shaking my hand, said:

“Governor, the hand of the Lord is in it. This is revelation.” .... [p. 52]

I soon learned that the first title page had been well preserved in the
Historical Society and Museum. It had been placed between two panes of
window glass in a stout frame. By this means it could be carefully handled
and examined without danger of defacement. It had been examined by
thousands and thousands; and after my arrival the number increased. I looked
upon it one day myself, in company with a gentleman from San Francisco.
... [p. 53] ...

In your second letter you ask me certain questions, which I will now
briefly answer. Oliver Cowdery, the scribe of the prophet, was a young man
of about twenty-four or twenty-five, about the age of Smith. I had never
known him previous to my return to Palmyra. He had been a school-teacher
in country schools, and I am certain had little or no acquaintance with English
grammar at that time. If this same Oliver Cowdery studied law and was
admitted to practice in Ohio, it must have been after the time that I met
him; and if he ever acquired a knowledge of the dead languages, it was
certainly afterwards. I never saw, to my knowledge, either Sidney Rigdon,^"^
or Parley P. Pratt^^ ...

As for “Joe Smith,” the prophet, I have long been satisfied that his
intellectual forces as a man have been greatly underrated. In deception and
low cunning he has had no peer. Mahomet was a much greater man
intellectually; but he never could have played the part of Joe Smith, the
Mormon Prophet. Ignorant as he is represented to have been, stiU he was

23. This quote is inaccurate (compare IILJ.7, STEPHEN S. HARD¬
ING TO POMEROY TUCKER, 1 JUN 1867, n. 8).

24. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), who did not arrive at Fayette,
New York, until December 1830, see introduction to LA.13, SIDNEY RIG¬
DON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

25. On Parley Parker Pratt (1807-57), who did not come to Manches¬
ter, New York, to investigate Mormonism until about August 1830, see intro¬
duction to IILK.16, PAPXEY P. PILATT AUTOBIOGRAPHY, CIRCA
1854 (PART I).

165

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

familiar with the Scriptures, and never tired of reading the miracles in the
Old Testament and in the New. The revelations that he pretended to have
had, were composed and written by somebody, certainly not Solomon
Spaulding. ... [p. 54]

When I was in Palmyra in 1829, I heard the particulars of the incident
as related by Mr. Tucker, when the Smith family was out of meat, and the
manner in which the black wether of William Stafford had been obtained.
But I refer the reader to the account given in Mr. Tucker’s book.^^ The best
part of the story, however, had been forgotten by Mr. T[ucker]., as
illustrative of the cunning of the young money-digger. When Stafford was
told it required the sacrifice of a black sheep in order to reach the hidden
treasure, it was not plain to him why the blood of one sheep was not as good
as that of another. His black wether, that had been selected by young Joe,
was large and in excellent condition for mutton. Stafford hesitated, and was
loth to give him up, offering a white wether of smaller size, yet in good
condition. But the coming prophet was not to be foiled in his purpose, and
resorted to logic that confounded the objector. “The reason why it must be
a black sheep,” said the young deceiver, “is because I have found the treasure
by means of the black art.” This, of course, was unanswerable, and the black
wether was given up.

With malice toward none, and charity for all, I subscribe myself.

Respectfully yours,
STEPHEN S. HAILDING.

26. Harding’s discussion of the Spaulding theory has been deleted.

27. See IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 24-25;
see also IILA.13, WILLIAM STAFFORD STATEMENT, 8 DEC 1833,
239; IILD.4, CORNELIUS R. STAFFORD STATEMENT, [23] MAR
1885; IILJ.36, WALLACE MINER STATEMENT, 1930; and IILJ.37,
WALLACE MINER STATEMENT, 1932.

166

16.

GORDON T. Smith Reminiscence,
CIRCA 1883

“About Days of Long Ago,” Palmyra Courier ^ circa 1883. Newspaper clipping
from “Wilcox Scrapbook” (plain cover), Palmyra King’s Daughters Free
Library, Palmyra, New York. Also published with slight variation in Mary
Louise Eldredge, comp.. Pioneers ofMacedon (Macedon, New York: Macedon
Historical Society, 1912), 98-99.

EDITORIAL NOTE

This clipping from the Wilcox scrapbook contains an interview with
Gordon T. Smith (c. 1806-98), the adopted son of Lemuel Durfee, the
Smiths’ landlord, by a correspondent of the Palmyra Courier. The item is
undated, but internal evidence indicates that the interview occurred about
1883. The article states that Smith was born about 1806, adopted by Durfee
in 1812, and that the interview took place “after the lapse of seventy years.”
This would date the interview to about 1882. The article also mentions that
the “latest” Durfee to die was Mary, daughter of Lemuel, on 9 May 1883.
Unfortunately the files of the Courier for 1883 are incomplete and exact
identification of this item cannot be made. Among other things, Gordon T.
Smith related a Durfee family anecdote about Joseph Smith that occurred
when the latter occasionally worked for the former’s father (see III.L.IO,
LEMUEL DURFEE ACCOUNT BOOKS, 1827-1829, under August
1827, where it is recorded that Joseph Smith worked for Durfee on at least
one occasion).

... Joseph Smith, Sr., was unable to pay for the farm he had taken up on
what is now “Mormon Hill.”^ At his request Lemuel Durfee paid for the
property and the Smiths continued to occupy it, paying rent considerably in
labor." Before harvest it was necessary in the early twenties to get a barrel of
whiskey into the cellar. Each morning a square black bottle was brought out

1. The term “Mormon hill” usually referred to the Hill Cumorah, situ¬
ated about two miles southeast of the Smiths’ former residence.

2. Lemuel Durfee purchased the Smith farm on 20 December 1825
(see IILL.4, SMITH MANCHESTER [NY] LAND RECORDS, 1820-
1830; and LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:56-58).

167

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

and the workmen all had a drink as a ceremony preliminary to breakfast. The
bottle stood in a certain place in the pantry. Mr. Durfee thought the bottle
was lighter than it ought to be some mornings. A little watching discovered
Joseph Smith, the future prophet, getting up early, helping himself, and then
after doing chores coming around innocently to drink with the other men.
He was not reprimanded but Mrs. Durfee removed the whiskey and put a
bottle of pepper-sauce in its place. A sly peep at Joseph the next morning
when he was leaving the pantry and crossing the kitchen discovered him
with both hands grasping his cheeks and groaning out, “My God, what is
that?”

3. This story is apparently also related in III.J.35, THOMAS L.
COOK HISTORY, 1930, 219.

168

17.

WILLIAM H. CUYLER STATEMENT, 1884

Clark Braden and E. L. Kelley, Public Discussion of the Issues Between the
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Church of Christ
(Disciples) Held in Kirtland, Ohio, Beginning February 12, and Closing March 8,
1884 Between E. L. Kelley, of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints and Clark Braden, of the Church of Christ (St. Louis: Clark Braden,
[1884]), 383.

EDITORIAL NOTE

William H. Cuyler, step-son of judge Thomas P. Baldwin (who
notarized several of the Hurlbut affidavits), was born about 1812 in Palmyra,
New York. He opened a hat and fur store in the 1840s, but retired in the
1860s (T. Cook 1930, 84). While Cuyler’s purpose was to substantiate the
legal aspects of Hurlbut’s gathering of statements in Palmyra and Manchester
in 1833, particularly his step-father’s participation as notary for three of
Hurlbut’s statements, he also provides an incidental glimpse into the activities
of Lucy, Joseph Jr., Alvin, and William Smith.

STATE OF NEW YORK,
WAYNE COUNTY.

William H. Cuyler of the village of Palmyra, New York, being duly
sworn says, I am 72 years old, and have resided in this village all my life. I
am the son of Major Wm. Howe Cuyler^ who was killed in the war of 1812.

After my father’s death, my mother married Thomas P. Baldwin^ and
by him had one daughter, Mary, now Mrs. Breck of Greenfield, Mass.

The wife of Joseph Smith [Sr.], the father of the Mormon, nursed my
mother at the birth of Mary Baldwin.^ I attended school with Joseph Smith

1. William Howe Cuyler, credited as “the first lawyer that opened an
office in Palmyra,” was killed during the War of 1812 at Sacketts’ Harbor in
October 1812. Cuyler’s widow, Eleanor, married Thomas P. Baldwin in
1818 (T. Cook 1930, 16; C. C. Baldwin 1881, 289).

2. On Thomas P. Baldwin (1790-1858), see I1I.A.2, BARTON STAF¬
FORD STATEMENT, 3 NOV 1833, n. 6.

3. See also II1.D.5, CAROLINE ROCKWELL SMITH STATE¬
MENT, 25 MAR 1885; and IILJ.14, ANNA RUTH EATON STATE-

169

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

the Mormon, and his brothers — particularly Alvin"^ and William.^

Thomas P. Baldwin was a lawyer, held the office of Commissioner of
deeds for a long time, and was one of the judges of Wayne County Courts
from 1830 to 1835, being appointed to the position by Enos T. Throop, the
Lieutenant Governor of the State then acting as Governor, as the Governor
Martin Van Buren resigned in 1829, on being appointed Secretary of State
umder [under] President Jackson.

My step-father always sigmed [signed] his name “Th. P. Baldwin”. He
died early in the year 1858 at Greene Bay, Wisconsin and was buried there.

(Signed) W. T. CUYLER.

Sworn to before me February 27th, 1884.

(Signed) T. W. COLLINS.*^

Wayne County Judge.

MENT, 1881, 3.

4. On Alvin Smith (1798-1823), see I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 10.

5. On WiUiam Smith (1811-93), see “Introduction to William Smith
Collection.”

6. Thadeus W. CoUins, Jr., whose father came to Wayne County in
1813, was a lawyer at Lyons, Wayne County, New York (McIntosh 1877,
156, 207).

170

18.

ALEXANDER MClNTYILE STATEMENT,
CIRCA 1884

1. Clark Braden and E. L. Kelley, Public Discussion of the Issues Between
the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the
Church of Christ (Disciples) Held in Kirtland, Ohio, Beginning February
12, and Closing March 8, 1884 Between E. L. Kelley, of the Reorganized
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and Clark Braden, of the
Church of Christ (St. Louis: Clark Braden, [1884]), 350.

2. Wilhelm Ritter von Wymetal, Jo5ep/2 Smith, the Prophet, His Family
and His Friends (Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing
Co., 1886), 276.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Alexander McIntyre (1792-1859), son of Alexander and Elizabeth
(Robinson) McIntyre, was born at Cummington, Massachusetts. He went
to Palmyra in 1800 to live with his uncle. Dr. Gain Robinson. About 1811
he began to study medicine under his uncle. For nearly fifty years McIntyre
practiced medicine in Palmyra and vicinity, serving as president of the Wayne
County Medical Society several times (1835-38, 1842-43, and 1847-48). In
1818 he married Ann Beckwith. McIntyre was called on during Alvin
Smith’s last illness, and Lucy Smith described him as “the favorite [physician]
of the family [and] a man of Great skill” (LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY,
1845, MS:46). McIntyre was a member of Palmyra’s Mount Moriah Lodge,
No. 112, and a high priest of Palmyra’s Eagle Chapter, No. 79, of Royal
Arch Masons. He was also associated with Palmyra’s Western Presbyterian
Church, where he purchased a permanent pew for himself and his family in
1847. He died at Palmyra (H. Eaton 1860, 16-17; McIntyre Family File,
Palmyra King’s Daughters Free Library, Palmyra, New York; see also
introduction to IILL.9, PALMYILA [NY] MASONIC RECORDS, 1827-
1828).

The original statement of Dr. Alexander McIntyre has not been located.
Not even a transcription of the original can be found. The following two
excerpts are paraphrases of an unknown source attributed to McIntyre. In
1884 Clark Braden of the Church of Christ made the first reference to this

171

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

source. Then, in 1886, German correspondent Wilhelm Ritter von Wymetal
either referred to the same source or borrowed from the published text of
the Braden-Kelley Debate. The context of Braden’s reference to McIntyre’s
statement suggest that it may have been among the statements originally
published by the Reverend Chester C. Thorne on 6 April 1880 in the now
lost Cadillac Weekly News (see III.C.l, CADILLAC (MI) WEEKLY NEWS,
6 APR 1880).

The harsh assessment of the Smiths attributed to McIntyre in this
statement is difficult to reconcile with the seemingly friendly attitude toward
the Smiths reported by Lucy Smith (I.B.15, LUCY SMITH HISTORY,
1845, 1853:141), but his attitude may have changed following Hyrum
Smith’s departure from Manchester in October 1 830 without paying a debt
owed him (see LA.5, JOSEPH SMITH TO COLESVILLE SAINTS, 2 DEC
1830; and LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, 1853:162-64).

[1. Clark Braden Paraphrase, i884\

Dr. McIntyre, who was their [the Smiths’] physician, testifies that
Joseph Smith, senior, was a drunkard, a liar and a thief, and his house a perfect
brothel.' That Joe got drunk, stole sugar, got beaten for it, and told the doctor
who dressed his bruises that he had a fight with the devil.

[2. Wilhelm Wymetal Paraphrase, 1886]

Dr. McIntyre, who was, according to old Lucy, “the family physician”
of the Smiths, testifies that Joseph Smith, Senior, was a drunkard, a liar and
a thief, and his house a perfect brothel. ...

1. This last statement may relate to Katharine Smith’s reputation (see
IILB.12, LORENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884, 1;
IILB.15, LORENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 12 NOV 1884, 21;
IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 81-82; and III.D.3,
CHRISTOPHER M. STAFFORD STATEMENT, 23 MAR 1885).

172

19.

SAMANTHA PAYNE STATEMENT,
CIRCA 1884

EDITORIAL NOTE

During his famous debate with E. L. Kelley, Clark Braden quoted the
following statement of Samantha (Stafford) Payne from an unidentified
source. Either Braden had someone interview Payne for his own purposes,
or, as the context suggests, Braden excerpted from the now lost 6 April 1880
Cadillac Weekly News (see III.C.l, CADILLAC [MI] WEEKLY NEWS, 6
APR 1880; compare III.C.3, SAMANTHA PAYNE AFFIDAVIT, 29 JUN
1881).

She was a schoolmate of Smith. His reputation was bad; he was regarded
as a worthless, shiftless fellow, a braggadocio and a blackguard. The mother
ofjoseph Smith was regarded as a thiefby her neighbors. She was exceedingly
superstitious and addicted to lying, as were all of the family. She once came
to my mother to get a stone the children had found, of curious shape. She
wanted to use it as a peepstone.^ Mother would not trust her to look around
the house for it. The Smith’s dug for money on nearly every farm for miles
around; their excavations can be seen to-day. Some are on the farm on which
I now live. The digging was done at night with most absurd superstitious
acts. It was done by a gang of men and women of low reputation. They told
many absurd stories about it. After Smith came back from Pennsylvania his
followers dug a cave in a hillside not far from here.^ They conducted the

1. See III.B.ll, JOHN STAFFORD INTERVIEW, 1881, 167.

2. Joseph Smith returned to Manchester from his first excursion to
Pennsylvania about March 1826, but according to Lorenzo Saunders, whose
family lived on the land where the cave was dug, the cave had been com¬
pleted before his father’s death on 10 October 1825 (see III. B. 12,

173

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

work of getting up Mormonism in it. I was in it once. It can be seen to-day.
The present owner of the farm, Mr. [Wallace] Miner, ^ dug out the cave,
which had fallen in. The cave had a large, heavy plank door and a padlock
on it. The neighbors broke it open one night, and found in it a barrel of
flour, some mutton, some sheep pelts, and two sides of leather.

LORENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884, 7-8; and IILB.15,
LOICENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 12 NOV 1884, 8-9, 12).

3. On Wallace Miner (1843-?), see introduction to IILJ.36, WAL¬
LACE MINER ILEMINISCENCE, 1930.

174

20.

LORENZO Saunders to Thomas Gregg,
28 JANUARY 1885

Charles A. Shook, The True Origin of the Book of Mormon (Cincinnati, Ohio:
Standard Publishing Co., [1914]), 134-35.

EDITORIAL NOTE

On 19 January 1885, Thomas Gregg^ of Hamilton, Hancock County,
Illinois, wrote to Lorenzo Saunders^ living near Reading, Michigan, request¬
ing information about Mormon origins. Gregg’s letter, as reproduced by
Charles A. Shook in 1914, is as follows:

Mr. Lorenzo Saunders,

Dear Sir: Permit me, a stranger, to “interview” you by letter. Mr.
J[ohn]. H. Gilbert, of Palmyra, N.Y., introduces us. He names you among
the very few left, who know something about the original of Mormonism,
and the life and career of Joe Smith, the pretended prophet. I am engaged
on a work — mainly a history of the Mormon Era in Illinois — but with
which I wish to incorporate the Rise and Progress of the miserable fraud in
and about Palmyra.

The main point I wish to investigate is as to how the Spaulding
Manuscript got into Smith’s hands previous to 1829 when the B(ook) of
M(ormon) was first printed. Some think [Oliver] Cowdery was the me¬
dium — some think that it was [Sidney] Rigdon. ... [0]f Rigdon — Gilbert
says it is thought you saw him once at Smith’s. Can you be sure of that? and
whether it was before that B[ook] of M[ormon] was printed? ...

your friend and ob[edien]t. Ser[vant].,
Th[omas]. Gregg

Saunders’s reply, reproduced below, is comparable to his other state¬
ments (see IILB.12, LORENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP
1884; IILB.14, LORENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 20 SEP 1884;
IILB.15, LORENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 12 NOV 1884; and

1. On Thomas Gregg (1808-?), see introduction to IILJ.15,
STEPHEN S. HARDING TO THOMAS GILEGG, FEB 1882.

2. On Lorenzo Saunders (1811-88), see introduction to IILB.12,
LORENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884.

175

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

IILD.9, LOILENZO SAUNDERS STATEMENT, 21 JUL 1887). The
original letter cannot be located, but it was published by Charles A. Shook
in 1914. Shook reports that at the time of publication the item was in the
R. B. Neal Collection of Thomas Gregg letters in the American Anti-Mor¬
mon Association. I have been unable to trace the location of the now defunct
association’s papers. Shook included the following affidavit attesting to the
document’s existence:

STATE OF NEBRASKA,
County of Dawson.

ss.

Charles A. Shook, being duly sworn according to law, deposeth and
saith that the foregoing letters of Thomas Gregg and Lorenzo Saunders are
verbatim copies (except spelling, punctuation and capitalization) of the origi¬
nals now in the possession of the American Anti-Mormon Association.

CHARLES A. SHOOK.

Subscribed to in my presence and sworn to before me, at Edd}wille, Ne¬
braska, this 13th day of Febmary, 1913.

B. R. HEDGLIN, Notary Public.

READING, January 28, 1885.

MISTER GILEGG,

Dear Sir. 1 received your note ready at hand and will try (to) answer
the best I can and give aU the information I can as respecting Mormonism
and the first origin. As respecting Oliver Cowdery,^ he came from Kirtland
in the summer of 1826 and was about there [in Manchester] until faU [1826]
and took a school in the district where the Smiths lived and the next summer
[1827] he was missing and I didn’t see him until fall [1827] and he came back
and took our school in the district where we lived and taught about a week
and went to the schoolboard and wanted the board to let him off and they
did and he went to Smith and went to writing the Book of Mormon and
wrote aU winter."^ The Mormons say it want [was not] wrote there but I say

3. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

4. Saunders’s claim that Cowdery first came to Palmyra and Manches¬
ter in the summer of 1826 is not corroborated in any other source. However,
it is known that Cowdery’s brother Lyman was in the area as early as 1825

176

LORENZO SAUNDERS TO THOMAS GREGG, 1885

it was because I was there. I saw Sidney Rigdon^ in the Spring of 1827, about
the middle of March. I went to Smiths to eat maple sugar, and I saw five or
six men standing in a group and there was one among them better dressed
than the rest and I asked [Samuel] Harrison Smith^ who he was (and) he said
his name was Sidney Rigdon, a friend of Joseph’s from Pennsylvania. I saw
him in the Fall of 1827 on the road between where I lived and Palmyra, with
Joseph. I was with a man by the name of Jugegsah [IngersoU] (spelling
doubtful, C.A.S.).^ They talked together and when he went on I asked
Jugegsah [IngersoU] (speUing doubtful, C.A.S.) who he was and he said it
was Rigdon. Then in the summer of 1828 I saw him at Samuel Lawrence’s^
just before harvest. I was cutting corn^ for Lawrence and went to dinner and
he took dinner with us and when dinner was over they went into another
room and I didn’t see him again tiU he came to Palmyra to preach. You
want to know how Smith acted about it. The next morning after he claimed

and possibly taught school in Manchester prior to Oliver’s arrival for the
1828-29 winter term. This is another example of Saunders’s tendency to re¬
member things in conformity with the demands of his interviewers, which
should be considered when assessing his statements regarding Rigdon’s ap¬
pearances in the Palmyra/Manchester area (see note 10 below).

5. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to LA. 13, SID¬
NEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

6. On Samuel Harrison Smith (1808-44), see JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 13.

7. Charles A. Shook could not make the name out, but in previous
statements Saunders indicated that Peter IngersoU was the person with him
on the occasion described (see IILB.12, LORENZO SAUNDERS INTER¬
VIEW, 17 SEP 1884, 4; IILB.14, LOILENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW,
20 SEP 1884, 2; and III.B.15, LORENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 12
NOV 1884, 15).

8. On Samuel Lawrence, see LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845,

n. 147.

9. Shook notes here: “He probably means plowing corn, as this was
too early in the season for the other.”

10. This is the last known statement where Saunders claims to have
seen Rigdon in Palmyra/Manchester before publication of the Book of Mor¬
mon. While these statements of Saunders sound confident and precise, it
should be kept in mind that he only arrived at them after a great deal of hesi¬
tation and prodding from John H. GUbert (III.B.15, LOILENZO SAUN¬
DERS INTERVIEW, 12 NOV 1884, 13-14). It is worth noting that Saun¬
ders was hard-pressed to make any statement in 1879 when GUbert first ap¬
proached him, but at the writing of this letter in 1885 he can give not only
one but three instances of seeing Rigdon before 1830 (i.e., mid-March 1827,
fall 1827, and summer 1828).

177

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

to have got (the) plates he came to our house and said he had got the plates
and what a struggle he had in getting home with them. Two men tackled
him and he fought and knocked them both down and made his escape and
secured the plates and had them safe and secure. He showed his thumb where
he bruised it in fighting those men.^^ After (he) went from the house, my
mother says, “What a liar Joseph Smith is; he lies every word he says; I know
he lies because he looks so [p. 134] guilty; he can’t see out of his eyes; how
dare (he) tell such a lie as that.” The time he claimed to have taken the plates
from the hill was on the 22 day of September, in 1827, and I went on the
next Sunday foUowing^^ with five or six other ones and we hunted the side
hill by course and could not find no place where the ground had been broke.
There was a large hole where the money diggers had dug a year or two
before, but no fresh dirt. There never was such a hole; there never was any
plates taken out of that hill nor any other hill in that county, was [or?] in
Wayne county. It is all a lie. No, sir, I never saw the plates nor no one else.
He had an old glass box with a tile (spelling doubtful, C.A.S.)^^ in it, about
7x8 inches, and that was the gold plates and Martin Harris^"^ didn’t know a
gold plate from a brick at this time. Smith and Rigdon had an intimacy but
it was very secret and still and there was a mediator between them and that
was Cowdery.^^ The Manuscripts was stolen by Rigdon and modelled over
by him and then handed over to Cowdery and he copied them and Smith
sat behind the curtain and handed them out to Cowdery and as fast as
Cowdery copied them, they was handed over to Martin Harris and he took

IT The event resulting in Smith injuring his thumb occurred a few
days after his removing the plates from the hill (see LB. 5, LUCY SMITH
HISTORY, 1845, MS:63-66; LE.3, HERBERT S. SALISBURY REMI¬
NISCENCES, 1945 & 1954; and III.F.IO, MARTIN HARRIS INTER¬
VIEW WITH JOEL TIFFANY, 1859, 166-67).

12. In another statement, Saunders referred to “the Sunday following”
(IILD.9, LORENZO SAUNDERS STATEMENT, 21 JUL 1887; cf IILJ.8,
POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 35).

13. For the claim that Smith had a “tile-brick” instead of plates, see
IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 32.

14. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

15. The theory that Cowdery was the medium between Rigdon and
Smith was previously expressed in III.F.l, MARTIN HARRIS INTER¬
VIEWS WITH JOHN A. CLARK, 1827 & 1828, 1:94, and Gregg had men¬
tioned in his letter to Saunders that “[s]ome think [Oliver] Cowdery was the
medium — some think that it was [Sidney] Rigdon,” but Saunders was the
first and only so-called “eye witness” to support both theories.

178

LORENZO SAUNDERS TO THOMAS GREGG, 1885

them to Egbert Grandin,^^ the one who printed them, and [John H.] Gilbert^^
set the type. I never knew any of the twelve that claimed to have seen the
plates except Martin Harris and the Smiths. I knew all of the Smiths, they
had not much learning, they was poor scholars. The older ones did adhere
(spelling doubtful, C.A.S.) to Joseph Smith. He had a peep stone he
pretended to see in. He could see all the hidden treasures in the ground and
all the stolen property. But that was all a lie, he couldn’t see nothing. He was
an impostor. 1 now will close. I don’t know as you can read this. If you can,
please excuse my bad spelling and mistakes.

Yours With Respect,

From LORENZO SAUNDERS.

16. On Egbert B. Grandin (1806-45), see I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 77.

17. See John H. Gilbert (1802-95), see “Introduction to John H. Gil¬
bert Collection.”

179

21.

E. E. BALDWIN TO W. O. NORRELL,
3 AUGUST 1887

E. E. Baldwin to W. O. Norrell, 3 August 1887, Theodore A. Schroeder
Papers, Archives, Wisconsin State Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Theodore A. Schroeder,^ an anti-Mormon writer, published a portion
of the present letter in his Lucifer^s Lantern series (No. 9, May 1900, 181-83).
In this publication, Schroeder introduced the letter as follows:

About six years ago there came into my possession a letter dated August 3rd,
1887, which has some additional evidence as to the fraud in the origin of the
Book of Mormon. I then asked permission to make its contents pubUc, but
the author declined because it was his intention to set forth the facts in a more
detailed manner as a magazine article. The author has since died without exe¬
cuting his expressed intention. The original recipient of the letter also de¬
clined to consent to its publicity because it might injure business relations. He
now consents to its publication if his name shall not, for the present, be made
known. The only reason given by the author for not desiring publication no
longer existing, I feel at liberty to give this much of the letter to the pubHc.

While Schroeder held back the recipient’s name, the following tran¬
scription of the original letter indicates that it had been addressed to W. O.
Norrell of Salt Lake City, of whom I have been unable to learn anything
further. The letter, apparently in Baldwin’s hand, is written on six pages that
have the following form letter head: “OFFICE OF / E. E. BALDWIN, /
ATTORNEY AT LAW.” This was perhaps the Edward Eugene Baldwin,
son of Joseph D. Baldwin, listed in the Baldwin Family Genealogy as a
practicing attorney in Bolton, Hinds County, Mississippi, as of 1876 (C. C.
Baldwin 1881, 666). The letter is part of the A. T. Schroeder Papers donated
to the Wisconsin State Historical Society in 1956.

OFFICE OF
E. E. BALDWIN,

1. On Schroeder’s background, see Brudnoy 1971; Embry 1992.

180

E. E. BALDWIN TO W. O. NORRELL, 1887

ATTORNEY AT LAW.

Jackson, Miss., Aug. 3rd 1887.^

W. O. Norrell, Esq.

Salt Lake City, Utah.

Dear Sir.

I have been so busy that I did not find out that you had gone West,
until a day or two ago, when Enoch told me where you were. ...

Now that you are where you are, I must tell you a piece of Mormon
history, which has never got into the books or papers either. An old uncle
of mine, the husband of my father’s oldest sister, Mr. James Horton^; lived
and died at Flint, Mich., dying there just after the war [Civil War]. He
was a native of N.Y. State, and was raised in the same town with Joe
Smith, and was one of the crowd of boys, with whom Smith used to
run, the most of whom became Mormons. Before the war, on several
occasions, my uncle told me all about it, how the whole thing was at first
gotten up [p. 1] by the crowd of young men under the leader=ship of
Smith, as a practical joke, to test the guUibility of the people. My uncle
was in it as big as any of them, and helped dig the pit on the side of the
hill near town, and fix the stones, &c. in it, where Smith claimed to to
have dug up the golden Booh Book of Mormon, under the direction of
a revelation."^ As to the book itself, he told me how they made that, that
among them was a young man who was a cab=inet makers apprentice,
and they got him to make a box Exactly the shape of a very large Bible,
one end of which had a sliding door. That they filled this with sand tightly

2. The portion in bold is Baldwin’s printed letter head, which appears
on each of the six pages of his letter to NorreU; the filled-in portion of the
date appears only on the first page. The remaining five letter heads have been
dropped from this transcription.

3. James G. Horton, age forty-seven, is listed in the 1860 census of
Flint, Genesee County, Michigan, as a Connecticut-born farmer (1860:109).
The 1820 census of Palmyra lists two Hortons, Joseph and Caleb; and the
1820 census of Farmington (later Manchester) lists an Ebenezer Horton. Per¬
haps James G. Horton belonged to one of these families. However, James
would have been fourteen in 1827 when Smith first brought the plates home
and was probably too young to be considered “one of the crowd of boys,
with whom Smith used to run.”

4. Lorenzo Saunders said he visited the hill soon after Smith claimed to
have removed the plates, but could find no evidence of the ground being dis¬
turbed (e.g., IILJ.20, LOILENZO SAUNDERS TO THOMAS GILEGG,

28 JAN 1885).

181

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

packed in, and then sewed a cloth cover over it; and then Smith gave
out that it could be felt and handled by common people without harm,
but not looked upon by any one except himself, the elect, except with
instant death, such was its sacredness. ^ And my uncle often laughed and
told me, that if they would undo the Golden Book, the in the Mormon
Temple, that is what it will be found to be, a box of sand.^ He was in
the way for some time, until and [at] length Smith [p. 2] commenced to
solicit money and material aid, when he and a couple of others went to
him and told him that they had gone into it for a joke, and not for a
swindle, and that it would not do to carry it any further. Smith told them
that he had found there was some money in it, and he proposed to make
some some out of it, and that if they did not wish to remain, they could
draw out and keep their mouths shut, which they did. I did not know
the his=torical value of this when it was told to me, as I was young, but
during the war, I grew to know it, and the first time I went North (1867,)
I intended to get a full written state=ment from him, of this whole matter,
signed and sworn to, but found he had been dead some time. He was
one of the most truthful, and reliable men I ever knew, and I put the
fullest confidence in his statements about it. He and Smith were good

5. Others from the Palmyra/Manchester area claimed Smith used a
box filled with sand to deceive his family and friends (see LB. 5, LUCY
SMITH HISTORY, 1845, 1853:133-34; IILA.9, PETER INGERSOLL
STATEMENT, 2 DEC 1833, 236; IILK.34, SARA MELISSA INGERSOLL
ILEMINISCENCE, 1899, 7; see also IILJ.27, PHILANA A. FOSTER TO
E. W. TAYLOR, 16 JUL 1895). A major problem with this claim is that
those who felt the plates through the cloth would not have been fooled by a
wooden box filled with sand. William Smith testified that he and the other
family members could feel the plates through the cloth and “[cjould raise the
leaves” (LD.5, WILLIAM SMITH TESTIMONY, 1885). Alvah Beman told
Harris that he heard the plates make a metallic sound when they were placed
in the box (III.F.IO, MARTIN HARRIS INTERVIEW WITH JOEL TIF¬
FANY, 1859, 167). Moreover, sand would not have weighed between forty
and sixty pounds, as claimed by those who lifted the plates (Ibid., 169; LD.4,
WILLIAM SMITH, ON MORMONISM, 1883, 12). As I have previously
suggested. Smith perhaps told Peter Ingersoll and others that the box con¬
tained sand to discourage those who were attempting to take the plates from
him (see IILA.9, PETER INGERSOLL STATEMENT, 2 DEC 1833, n.

14). Possibly Horton or those to whom he related his story transformed these
rumors into an actual event.

6. Schroeder explained: “The writer of the letter evidently did not
know that Mormons claim to have delivered all plates to the angel after the
translation of that part of them which constitutes the Book of Mormon.”

182

E. E. BALDWIN TO W. O. NORRELL, 1887

friends until the death of the latter. ... [p. 3] ...

Yours Resp[ectfully].

E. E. Baldwin. ... [p. 5]

183

22.

PALMYPJV RESIDENT ACCOUNT,
2 OCTOBER 1888

Andrew Jenson, Edward Stevenson, and Joseph S. Black to Deseret Evening
News, 2 October 1888, Fayette, Seneca County, New York, Deseret Evening
News, 11 October 1888.

EDITORIAL NOTE

In late September and early October 1888, Andrew Jenson, Edward
Stevenson, and Joseph Smith Black visited the Palmyra/Manchester and
Fayette, New York, areas. In a letter, dated 2 October 1888, Fayette, New
York, the three men from Utah gave an account of an interview with an
unnamed resident of Palmyra, who evidently repeated the well-known story
of Joseph Smith’s having sacrificed a sheep. According to the journal of
Joseph Smith Black, they arrived in Palmyra on 27 September 1888 and
departed for Fayette on 2 October (“The Journal of Joseph Smith Black,”
Our Pioneer Heritage 10 [1967]: 294).^

FAYETTE, Seneca County,
New York, Oct. 2, 1888.

Editor Deseret News:

... We have heard a great many things about the extraordinary qualities
of the Smith family, but nothing that bests the following related to us this
morning by a citizen of Palmyra:

“When Joseph Smith,” says our informant, “was digging for the Golden
Bible, he ran short of provisions, and in order to obtain some mutton from
a somewhat simple-minded neighbor, Joseph prevailed on him to furnish a
fat sheep, the best he had[,] to be offered as a sacrifice to God. The farmer
who at first appeared unwilling, at last consented, and consequently the sheep
was brought into a shed back of the Smith family residence. (By the way the
identical hiU was pointed out to us). But while the Prophet was going through
a lengthy ceremony preparatory to offering the sacrifice, one of his boys, as

1. Jenson, Stevenson, and Black also interviewed John H. Gilbert (see
III.H.9, JOHN H. GILBERT INTERVIEW, SEP 1888).

184

PALMYRA RESIDENT ACCOUNT, 1888

previously arranged carried off the sheep, weighing 200 pounds which was
needed by the family for food.”^

If one of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s boys (his eldest son being born in
1832) could carry off a sheep weighing 200 pounds as early as 1827, five years
before birth, it is no wonder that Joseph Smith has made such a great stir in
the world. This is a fair specimen of several other stories put in circulation
about Joseph Smith and the “Mormons.”

In closing this letter we will state however that nothing we have been
able to learn through diligent inquiry in this neighborhood about the Smith
family has in the least degree shaken us in the confidence we formerly had
in their integrity and truthfulness.

ANDP^W JENSON,

EDWARD STEVENSON,
JOSEPH S. BLACK.

2. If not an entirely different event, the Palmyra resident probably re¬
lates a garbled version of William Stafford’s 1833 statement (see IILA.13,
WILLIAM STAFFOPJ3 STATEMENT, 8 DEC 1833, 239).

185

23.

WILLIAM HYDE INTERVIEWS, 1888

1. “Birth of Mormonism. The Story of an Old Man Who Was There
When the Tables of Stone Were Found,” Chicago Times, 14
October 1888.

2. “‘The Birth of Mormonism,’” Deseret Evening News, 10 November
1888, [2].

EDITORIAL NOTE

On 14 October 1888 the Chicago Times printed an article titled “Birth
of Mormonism,” which included statements purportedly made by William
Hyde, a former resident of Palmyra, New York. Following publication of
the Times article, L. E. Odinga, also of Chicago and evidently a member of
the LDS church, reinterviewed Hyde concerning his knowledge of Mormon
origins. On 23 October 1888 Odinga relayed the substance of this interview
to the editors of Salt Lake City’s Deseret Evening News. Odinga’s version
substantiated many details of the Times interview but challenged others.
According to the editors of the News, Hyde “was greatly chagrined at being
so grossly misrepresented himself by being made to appear as a slanderer of
the Smith family, and sought to have appropriate corrections made by that
paper, but the opportunity to place himself right was denied him” (10
November 1888). Indeed, I was unable to find any subsequent statement by
Hyde in the Times. (The item from the Deseret Evening News was noted by
Stanley S. Ivans; see Stanley S. Ivans Papers, Utah Historical Society, Salt
Lake City, Utah.)

William Hyde, according to his own account, was born in 1799 at
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the son of English immigrants. About 1815
he went to Boston to work as a baker’s apprentice. He moved to Palmyra,
where his uncles Joel and Levi Thayre resided, and opened a grocery store,
probably about 1827. The Wayne Sentinel for 4 April 1828 lists a William
Hyde as receiving mail at the Palmyra Post Office. Although he does not
appear in the 1830 census of Palmyra, on 17 April 1833 Hyde, then “in
indigent circumstances,” was subpoenaed by Wayne County’s Grand Jury as
a witness in the case of Samuel T. Lawrence of Palmyra, who was indicted
for “fraudulently secreting property” (Oyer and Terminer Minutes, 1824-45,

186

WILLIAM HYDE INTERVIEWS, 1888

92, Wayne County Courthouse, Lyons, New York). Little is known of Hyde
in the intervening years, but in 1881 he apparently purchased the house in
Chicago in which he was living in 1888 when he was interviewed by the
Times reporter.^

[1. Chicago Times Interview, 14 October 1888]

In a cottage at 1845 Frederick street. Lake View, is William Hyde. He
knows more about the history of Mormonism than any living man who does
not hold a card of the “profesh.” Although nearly 90 years of age Mr. Hyde
is as active as any '‘colt” in the Chicago team. He has a remarkable memory,
and can recall events that happened when he was 5 years of age with
apparently little reflection. His descriptions are very graphic, especially in
giving his version of the figureheads of the “Latter-Day Saints.” In 1881 he
went to Manchester, England, where his parents migrated from in 1797, and
inherited a snug legacy, on which he is now living. Mr. Hyde was born at
Portsmouth, N.H., in 1799 and was left fatherless when scarcely 2 years old,
his widowed mother being then left to depend upon her own resources. At
the age of 16 young Hyde left his mother and went to Boston, where he
served his time as a baker’s apprentice, and after wandering about several
years landed at Palmyra, N.Y. A TIMES reporter wended his way to “1845”
yesterday and found the old gentleman reading. He said:

“I opened a general store in the village of Palmyra. Joel and Levy
Thayer,^ my uncles, were the principal merchants in the place. They had
extensive pork-packing interests and operated a system of twenty-six
boats along the canal. In other words they controlled that slice of the
earth.

“The Smiths, whom history has chronicled as sheep-thieves^ and the
founders of Mormonism, emigrated from Sharon, Vt. (where Joseph Smith,

1. Of the three William Hydes listed in the 1880 census of Chicago
(1880:91, 180, 245), none fit the age requirement, which suggests the possibil¬
ity that Hyde moved to Chicago after the taking of the 1880 census.

2. On Joel and Levi Thayer, see III. A. 11, PALMYILA ILESIDENTS
GROUP STATEMENT, 4 DEC 1833, nn. 9 and 42; see also III.L.ll,
JOSEPH SMITH ILECEIPT TO ABRAHAM FISH ACCOUNT, 10
MAR 1827.

3. See IILA.13, WILLIAM STAFFOPJ3 STATEMENT, 8 DEC
1833, 239. Hyde denied making this statement in his interview with L. E.
Odinga. That it was interjected by the reporter is supported by Hyde’s state¬
ment in the same paragraph that he believed the Smiths were innocent of
“any misdemeanor.”

187

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

Jr., was born in 1805), to Palmyra in 1827."^ They lived in the outskirts of
the village, and in the fall of the year the senior Smith^ was employed by my
relatives as a pork-packer, and shortly after his son Joseph was also thus
engaged. While visiting the Thayers I became acquainted with the men, who
I don’t believe were ever guilty of any misdemeanor until they became
involved in the religious riffle. One evening in the early part of 1828 Smith
senior visited me. He seemed to be such a solemn looking duck that I didn’t
court his friendship, but he was so entertaining that after conversing with
him until after midnight, I told him to call often. He was a slim man about
5 feet 11, and always appeared to be in a deep study. From the time of his
first visit until his religious scheme was sprung I don’t believe he missed a
night without stopping with me for at least three hours. There wasn’t a
subject he couldn’t discuss intelligently, and my opinion of him was high.
His memory was something extraordinary. He could repeat several chapters
of a book verbatim after it had been read rapidly.

“He was very shrewd and he gradually coached me along until he
thought I was in his power and then he rung in his little game. At first he
imparted as a great secret that his son ‘Joe’ had a wonderful ‘gift.’ That was
all I could get him to disclose for over a week, and I guess he lost the
confidence he had in me. Rectifying the misunderstanding with Mr. Smith
I was again his right bower, and he said the possession consisted of two stones
called Urim and Thummin^ which enabled the boy to seek treasures in the
earth and surpass Daniel as a prophet. It might be appropriate to state now
that the Smiths were monogamists and not polygamists; their sole object was
to obtain riches, which they did, but ultimately it cost the ‘modern Daniel’
his life.

“The villainous impostors had already became quite popular with about
a score of people, but they were without a system to fleece them. Eventually
Smith, Sr., the great concocter and originator, enacted a little deal that
successfully duped the innocents. It was May 17, 1829.^ Large banks of black

4. The Smiths moved to Palmyra in 1816-17.

5. On Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

6. The terms “Urim and Thummim” were introduced into Mormon
vocabulary after the New York period (see LA. 14, JOSEPH SMITH AN¬
SWERS TO QUESTIONS, 8 MAY 1838, n. 1).

7. One can only speculate how Hyde came up with this date for
Joseph Smith’s removing the plates from the Manchester hill, which is consis¬
tently assigned to 22 September 1827. Perhaps Hyde associated 17 May 1829
(Sunday) with an established event noted in his journal or other records.

Hyde may have conflated accounts of Joseph Jr.’s obtaining the plates with

188

WILLIAM HYDE INTERVIEWS, 1888

clouds obscured the moon, and the night was hideous. Joseph Smith repaired
to some woods about a mile distant from his father’s house, and in about an
hour returned. During his absence Smith, Sr., had gathered as many of his
proposed victims as possible at his house. They were all engaged in conver¬
sation when suddenly a rumbling noise was heard, and the boy staggered in
and fell on the floor with a large package. A host of people gathered around
him. He was unconscious. Being resuscitated he related one of the most
thrilling narratives ever heard. While looking through his magnetic arrange¬
ment he discovered some peculiar marks on the ground. Scrutinizing them
more carefully he was able to discern their meaning, which was instructions
for him. He obeyed and unearthed the package, which he carried. As he was
about to turn homeward a mounted spirit appeared and demanded he should
replace the treasure in the earth. Instead of complying with the mandate he
picked up his baggage and ran. By dodging behind trees and in bushes he
evaded his pursuer, who never ceased attempting to hit him with his scorpion
sword. ^

“The contents of the parcel were kept secret for a long time and I was
the first person Smith, Sr., confided the arrangement to. The mysterious
package was alleged to have contained seven gold plates 16 inches long by
10 wide and 1/8 inch thick.^ Certain marks or hieroglyphics on those plates
recorded the history of a highly civilized community that peopled this earth
many centuries ago. No one could comprehend the meaning of the charac¬
ters engraved on the tablets but young Smith, and he had to use his
transparent rocks. When translated the golden sheets would be of great value.
Hidden treasures would be revealed and everybody who contributed to the
grist by way of money would become the possessor of immense wealth. Being
the first person to whom the secret was given of course it was only fair that

the senior Smith’s treasure-seeking activities, described in some detail below,
which perhaps did occur in the junior’s absence. According to Mormon chro¬
nology, Hyde’s date of 17 May 1829 falls two days after Joseph Smith and
Ohver Cowdery’s baptisms in Harmony, Pennsylvania.

8. Hyde’s account sounds like a garbled version of the first time Joseph
Smith brought the plates home in September 1827 (see LB. 5, LUCY SMITH
HISTORY, 1845, MS:63-66; LE.3, HERBERT S. SALISBURY REMI¬
NISCENCES, 1945 & 1954; and III.F.IO, MARTIN HARRIS INTER¬
VIEW WITH JOEL TIFFANY, 1859, 166-67).

9. Joseph Smith himself described the plates as being “six inches wide
and eight inches long and not quite so thick as common tin. ... The volume
was something near six inches in thickness” (LA. 19, JOSEPH SMITH TO
JOHN WENTWORTH, 1 MAR 1842, 707).

189

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

I should be the first to receive an offer. If I would donate a stipulated sum
to the fund Smith, Sr., agreed to install me as treasurer. I had so much faith
in the old man that I was inclined to believe his bald-headed assertions, and
told him I would go to his house the Sunday following and see the plates.

“He was surprised when I made the payment of my initiation fee
conditional. He thought I was so completely in his power that I wouldn’t
hesitate to subscribe. When I said I would go and see the ‘keys’ to ev¬
erlasting riches he was dazed. In fact I paralyzed him. After whipping
around the stump with his fire-escape whiskers flapping with the wind he
finally said: ‘It will mean death for you to attempt to look at the plates.
They are sewed in a silk sack and the first person who disbelieves the
truth of my assertion will be obliterated.’ I began to think now that the
man was demented and my belief was strengthened by the fact that Smith
senior was a somnambulist. I told him his declaration made me more
anxious than ever and if I could die looking at those plates that was just
the death I wanted — anything to gratify my appetite for those golden
tablets. Finding I wasn’t his mark he tried to ensnare others and was
successful. Smith’s hearers, or proselytes, generally wanted to see the great
‘prognosticators,’ but Smith’s answer would invariably be that the Angel
Maroni [Moroni], who had charge of the plates, commanded that no one
should see them under penalty of death and confiscation. The generation
that existed there were, according to the ‘store-keeper,’ too corrupt to
come in communication with the plates. Slowly the people gained in faith
and gradually money poured into the coffers of Smith & Son. Finally the
day for the revelation of the hidden treasures came, and after being con¬
cealed in a room for several hours with his son. Smith finally emerged
and told the leaders of the party to go into a forest, about two and one-half
miles from Palmyra, and dig for the treasure. The people rebelled against
the prophets and for a few moments Smith Sc Co. were in very warm
water. Joseph Smith, Jr., agreed to go and point out the lucky spot and
the people were again appeased. Everybody wanted the young prophet to
ride in their vehicle, and it seemed at one time as though a riot was
inevitable so eager were the ‘gold-seekers’ to arrive at the promised land
and become rich. The matter was adjusted. Smith was given a horse of
his own and there was no preferment.

“Arriving at the designated place each man’s territory was apportioned
and they went to work on the fool’s errand. Such a gang of hustlers you
never saw. They beat our Italian street laborers. Toward evening Joe Smith
left the diggers and returned to his home. The people continued to dig, not
one of them returning that evening for fear of losing their ground. The next

190

WILLIAM HYDE INTERVIEWS, 1888

day they continued with renewed energy, but no gold or anything else was
discovered. Smith would tell them to persevere and they kept on like
ground-hogs. This continued for a week and an acre of ground was turned
over. In some cases there were excavations twenty feet deep, but for the most
part after the miners had gone ten feet they would seek new fields. The
people became despondent and clamored for their money. The feeling
toward the Smiths was so obnoxious that the brace of scoundrels conde¬
scended to go to the scene of their myrmidons’ labors, but before this
arrangement was made Smith made the plebeians promise they would remain
away from the gold-fields for three days.

“At the expiration of the days of grace Smith and his constituents, who
had become very wrathy, went to the forest, which looked like the relics of
an earthquake or an eruption. It was about 9 o’clock Sunday evening, and
after an hour’s devotion, in which the junior Smith was very active, the party
proceeded to explore the mysterious depths. When they reached the twenty-
foot hole Smith commanded all to descend. The mandate was complied with,
and while all were engaged in prayer there was a sudden illumination that
dazzled the gnome-like occupants. The elder Smith gave one sepulchral
grunt and then all was in confusion. The people fled in all directions, leaving
their conveyances and implements behind. Several women who were in the
party were trampled upon, and the whole fizzle was over. When Smith
returned to his home it was surrounded by the disappointed, who were
almost wild in denouncing the fiend. He reprimanded them severely and said
they were in red-headed luck not to be burned up, as the Lord was very
angry, and their dubiousness in believing the word of God caused the whole
misunderstanding. So the fools were again satisfied and Smith took care of
their donations. Although the first game had caused some dissension in their
ranks Smith was not to be baffled by a small thing like a threat of being
lynched, and started to unfurl another scheme.

“This is the point where Mormonism got its foothold. It was promul¬
gated that Joseph Smith had a conference with a deputy from Heaven, who
authorized him to establish a kingdom on earth and appoint his father
high-priest. The ire of the surrounding inhabitants was aroused by this
declaration, and the Smiths were threatened with annihilation. But he again
restored the people to his confidence and commenced his “bleeding” and
work which broke up no less than forty families in the village of Palmyra.

10. This statement was corrected in Hyde’s subsequent interview with
Odinga, where he reports that to his knowledge “Martin Harris’ family was
the only one in the town of Palmyra, thus broken up” (see below).

191

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

The first one to fall in line was Martin Harris/^ a farmer estimated to be
worth $30,000. Harris’ wife objected to his becoming a member of the
church, but he was obdurate and wouldn’t listen to any suggestions his wife
offered. The result was the family split. Mrs. Harris took the farm and stock
and her husband $10,000 in cash, which he was to contribute to the Lord.
The Smiths got their divvy of this amount and the balance was sucked from
the pocket of the unsophisticated farmer. When this racket had got under
good headway Smith tried to bring me in again, promising to make an apostle
of me. I never consented to join the ranks, but, thinking I was getting there
rapidly. Smith unfolded his plans to me.

“The next man to fall in line as a leader was Sidney Rigdon.^^ He came
from Ohio and was born in Pennsylvania in February, 1793. He was a fairly
educated man and is credited with publishing the first Mormon bible, which
was, in fact, composed by old man Smith, although the congregation believed
that it was translated from the golden plates by Joseph Smith by means of
LJrim and Thummim. When the manuscripts were ready they were given
to a printer, and Martin Harris paid $3,000 for as many of the handbooks.
Services were held openly a short distance from the village, and Smith, Sr.,
would baptize people by immersion. Generally he would perform four or
five ceremonies of this sort every Sunday to the merriment of the citizens,
who would be stowed away behind hay-stacks near the pond.

“Having secured as many suckers as possible the prophet proclaimed
that they should seek new pastures, and they set out for Kirtland, O. ...

L.F.C.^^

[2. Deseret Evening News Interview, 10 November 1888]

Editor Deseret News:

The foregoing [synopsis of Hyde’s interview] appeared in the Chicago
Times of Sunday, Oct. 14, and is a fair specimen of the generality of articles
on the subject of Mormonism, with which the eastern press delights to feed
popular prejudice as regards said subject. The ignorance of the great masses

11. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

12. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to LA. 13, SID¬
NEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

13. Lucy Smith mentioned that her husband baptized two persons fol¬
lowing his release from the Canandaigua jail in November-December 1830
(LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, 1853:165).

14. This person remains unidentified.

192

WILLIAM HYDE INTERVIEWS, 1888

of the journalists so-called, their unwillingness to properly inform themselves
on the subjects on which they pretend to inform the public, their mental
imbecility and willful mendacity is proverbial, but the foregoing article beats
the record. To anyone who knows the least thing about Mormonism, its
doctrines and history, and the character of its founders, the absurdity of the
statements made therein is patent, but to make sure of the falsehood of these
statements your correspondent went to interview Mr. Hyde, and the follow¬
ing conversation ensued:

“You were a resident of Palmyra, N.Y., at the time the Smith’s lived
there?”

“Yes, sir, I was a merchant in the town of Palmyra. The Smiths lived
at some distance from the town, between Palmyra and Manchester.”

“Did you come into frequent contact with them in business transac¬
tions?”

“Yes, sir, they came into my store quite often. My uncles, Levi and
Joel Thayer, the leading merchants of the town, did a rushing business in
pork-packing, and the Smiths were in their employ. Thus I saw a great deal
of them.”

“Did you see much of the Smiths outside of your business — did you
have private intercourse with them?”

“I was well acquainted with the elder Smith; he often came to see me,
and we had many long talks together. I did not see much of the younger
Smith. He seemed a very quiet, unassuming lad. For the Elder Smith I had
the highest regard; he seemed well informed on every imaginable topic, and
there was no subject upon which he could not talk intelligently. [”]

“Did you make the statement given in the Times, that the Smiths were
known as sheep-thieves and, in fact, as unscrupulous people, in that com¬
munity?”

“I did not; the Smiths were respected by everyone in the town and
vicinity, and up to the time when the discovery of the plates from which the
Book of Mormon was translated, that raised a great excitement in those parts
and many people went to digging for hidden treasures, their moral character
had never been questioned. If they had not been of such unimpeachable
character, they could not have been employed by my uncles who were very
facetious [fastidious] in the selection of their employe[e]s. I never as much
as thought of doubting Smith’s honesty.”

“Did you make the statement that Mormonism in those days was a
money-making scheme?”

“No, sir; it appeared to me that the elder Smith was desirous of great
wealth, and during the gold-digging excitement following the discovery of

193

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

the mysterious plates, I was at times led to think it possible that the elder
Smith might have planned some deep scheme for making money; but when
the religious society called the “Chosen People” was formed, and he became
active in proselyting and preaching and baptizing, I was nonplussed, for
circumstances went to show that Smith could have had no such aim, or if
so, had given it up entirely.”

“Do you think that his desire for wealth could ever have overcome his
honesty?”

“No, no; I never thought that. So far as I knew Smith, I judged that
he would not take as much as the value of a pin from anybody.”

“What were the sources from which you derived your knowledge of
Mormonism?”

“Most of the knowledge that I possess as regards Mormonism, and the
plates from which youngjoseph translated the Book of Mormon, was derived
from conversations with Smith, Sr., and Martin Harris. Smith told me of the
stones his son Joseph had found, and by means of which he could see hidden
treasures and many wonderful things. They had formed a society at that
time — not a religious society, however. He wanted me to identify myself
with the understanding and promise to make me treasurer, in that event.
Before entering upon it, I required to be shown the plates of which he spoke,
but he said if I saw and handled the plates I would be struck dead. I told him,
if this was the case, it was just the kind of death I would want to die. But he
would not consent, and thus gave me up. I was also well acquainted with
Martin Harris. In fact, we were great friends, and I thought often of him in
after years. Of late I have often desired to make a journey to California, and
on going through Utah, to look for Marlin Harris. I know he would have
received me with open arms.^^ He often spoke to me of those plates, and I
told him that I could not believe that they were what they claimed to be.
But he persisted so earnestly in claiming them to be authentic that I was
perplexed. I met Martin Harris, several years later, on a steam-boat on
Cayuga Lake. He had with him a company of “Saints” — about two hundred
of them — bound for Missouri. He preached to the passengers on board, on
the “last dispensation” and the Book of Mormon as the word of God, and
declared that he often communicated with Christ, as one man with another,
and many other statements equally strange. In the course of his sermon, he
referred to me, and advised his audience, if they doubted his honesty, to
inquire of me concerning his reputation, as I was a townsmen of his and
knew him well. The captain of the boat was by my side and enquired of me

15. Martin Harris had died in 1875 at Clarkston, Cache County, Utah.

194

WILLIAM HYDE INTERVIEWS, 1888

what sort of a man Harris was. I could not do otherwise than speak well of
him; only this I said, that on religious subjects I thought him slightly
demented. I was thunderstruck when I heard him speak, and was more
perplexed than ever.[”]

“What were your religious sentiments at the time — were you con¬
nected with a church?”

“I was then a member, and later a warden, of the Episcopal Church,
and have been connected with it the greater part of my life.”

“Did any of your relatives join the ‘Chosen People,’ as they were then
called?”

“None, save John Hyde,^^ a cousin of mine. I never saw him, but
corresponded with him, when I was a boy and lived in Boston, and he was
in London. I afterwards learned that he had come to America.”

“Did the elder Smith offer any inducements to you — did he promise
that you should become possessed of great wealth, if you become a member
of that society.”

“He said that by means of the Urim and Thummim,^^ which were in
the possession of his son Joseph, the secrets of all arts and sciences would be
revealed, and that these would be carefully guarded and kept within the
society, and that there was no doubt that great wealth would be the result,
and if I would join them and contribute some money to the funds of the
society, I would be sure to become rich. Well, now I have come to think,
if I had done so, I would be better off today than I am, even if the great
wealth the senior Smith talked so much about did not materialize.”

“Did these conversations between you and Mr. Smith take place before
the work of translation from the plates had commenced?”

“Yes, sir; Smith used to tell me then that the writing on the plates was
a record of a lost race that once inhabited this continent and was highly
civilized; that it had possession of many important secrets in all branches of
art and science, and that those secrets were laid open by the writing on the
plates, but that the then generation was too wicked to receive them, and
therefore the Lord would not grant a translation.

Both Smith and Harris told me that the latter took the plates to Dr.
[Samuel L.] Mitchell, of Philadelphia,^^ a reputed linguist, and well versed

16. This person remains unidentified. Perhaps he is John Hyde, a for¬
mer Mormon and author of Mormonism: Its Leaders and Designs (New York:

W. P. Fetridge and Co., 1857).

17. See note 6 above.

18. Hyde remembers incorrectly. Samuel L. Mitchell was in New
York City, according to Charles Anthon (see V.D.2, CHARLES ANTHON

195

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

in heiroglyphics [hieroglyphics], that the professor recognized in the writing
on the plates an account of a highly civilized race that once inhabited this
continent.”

“Are you not mistaken about the plates — was it not an abstract, or a
portion of the writing or characters on one of these plates, that was shown
to Dr. Mitchell?”

“No, sir; I remember distinctly to have heard both Smith and Harris
say that the latter took the plates to Dr. Mitchell.

“Did this take place before the work of translation had commenced?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did you hear of Martin Harris subsequently, that is, after the transla¬
tion had been entered upon, taking a transcript of some of the writing on
the plates to Dr. [Charles] Anthony^^ of New Y ork, and of this linguist having
recognized in the transcript the characteers [characters] of some oriental
language, but declaring himself unable to read it.”^^

“I never heard of such a translation [transcription?].”

“Did you ever at any time during your acquaintance with the elder
Smith, consider him in the light of a schemer?”

“Not exactly in the common sense of the word. The slight suspicion I
entertained at one time, that he might be up to some money making scheme,
was entirely obliterated by subsequent occurrences, that is, by his taking such
a prominent part in religious affairs. I had at all times the highest regard for
him. He used to see me night after night and speak to me of former
inhabitants of this continent, how a large portion of the earth now covered
by the Pacific Ocean was once occupied by land, etc. Many of the things he
told me seemed absurd in those days, but have since been proven to be
correct, and I have seen with my own eyes in Wisconsin and other parts of
this country, at excavations, a verification of the wonderful things he used

TO E. D. HOWE, 17 FEB 1834, 270; see also Kimball 1970, 333-34). On
Samuel L. Mitchell (1764-1831), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY,
1839, n. 45.

19. On this point, Hyde’s memory obviously failed him; Harris took a
facsimile of the characters said to have been copied from the plates (see
V.E.2, BOOK OF MORMON CHARACTERS, DEC 1827-FEB 1828).

20. On Charles Anthon (1797-1867), see introduction to V.D.2,
CHARLES ANTHON TO E. D. HOWE, 17 FEB 1834. The first printing
of Joseph Smith’s History in the Times and Seasons in 1842 misspelled Charles
Anthon’s last name as “Anthony” (2 May 1842, 3:773).

21. For Anthon’s account of his encounter with Harris, see V.D.2,
CHARLES ANTHON TO E. D. HOWE, 17 FEB 1834; and V.D.3,
CHARLES ANTHON TO THOMAS WINTHROP COIT, 3 APR 1841.

196

WILLIAM HYDE INTERVIEWS, 1888

to tell me, and while his knowledge of these things seemed marvelous to me
at that time, now that this knowledge is proven to be correct, it is
incomprehensible to me how he could have obtained it. He was indeed a
marvelous man.[”]

“The Times makes the statement that you declared that young Joseph
Smith endeavored to convert you to the new creed, and promised to make
you an apostle, if you accepted the doctrine he promulgated. Is this true?”

“I never spoke to Joseph Smith, Jr., upon the subject, and he never
made any such statement to me.”

“Did you ever read the Book of Mormon?”

“I never saw the book. The printer in Palmyra who printed it sent me
several proofs, and I read some, but finally grew tired of them and paid no
more attention to them.”

“You have no connected idea, then, of the contents of the book in
question?”

“No, sir.”

“Martin Harris told me that the plates were sewed in a silk sack, and
were never opened at such occasions, but lay on the table while young Joseph
Smith placed the Urim and Thummim in his hat, and then “read” the
translation of the writing in the stones.”

“Do you know who acted as scribe on these occasions?”

“No, sir.”

“Were you acquainted with the early history of Mormonism — if so,
what was their standing in the community?”

“Did you learn any particulars about the work of translation?”

“I did not personally know any one else, save Oliver Cowdery^^; my
acquaintance with him was, however, but slight. He was greatly respected
by all, as far as I know, as indeed were all the people in those parts, who
accepted the new creed. They were, for the most part substantial farmers.
Martin Harris was universally looked up to, and I never heard any one say a
word against him.”

“How about that gold-digging affair in the woods, did the Smiths
organize it?”

“Young Smith had designated the spot — about an acre of open ground;
there were no woods there — and said that by means of the Urim and
Thummim he could see ‘treasures’ that were hidden in that ground, and
people went to work searching for them. Young Smith was not there then,

22. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

197

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

but the elder Smith, and when the sudden flash of light frightened and
dispersed the diggers, he declared that the Lord had in this manner shown
His displeasure.”

“You said a little while ago that no one thought otherwise than well
of the Smiths until after the discovery of the plates. How did this ill-feeling
originate?”

“The failure of the treasure-seeking expedition and the consequent
disappointment of many raised a temporary excitement, but there was
nothing very serious said or done, until the religious excitement began — after
the translation of the plates and the organization of the ‘Church of Jesus
Christ’ — when the Smiths and their followers, of which there was a great
number then, moved away to Ohio. Then families broke up, and the popular
feeling against the Smiths became very bitter, their moral character was never
attacked even then; they were considered religious fanatics.”

“Were there, to your knowledge, many families broken up in this

way?

“I know personally of only one — that of Martin Harris. He perpetrated
no wrong against his family. He was a nice, kind, man, and very forbearing.^^
His wife was a quakeress and did not sympathize with his religious views;
she could not believe as he did, and his faith was too strong to yield. Thus
he left her and the children and her property.”

“The Times put into your mouth the statement that no less than forty
families were broken up, in the village of Palmyra?”

“I repeat Martin Harris’ family was the only one in the town of Palmyra,
thus broken up.”

“Were the Smiths persecuted for speaking and doing as they did? Were
they subjected to any kind of annoyance at services and while performing
the ceremony of baptism?”

“No sir; their services were orderly and free from annoyance, as I was
told, for I never attended any of them. When they went to baptize converts,
everything went off quietly and without disturbance of any kind. People
went to see, as they would have gone to see a ceremony performed by a
Christian minister, and both believers and unbelievers behaved properly.”

“Is the account the Times gives of the subsequent history of Mormon-
ism from your pen, or in any way authorized by you?”

“No sir; I know nothing of what transpired after the Smiths and their
followers left the parts where I then lived, for Ohio — save what I could glean

23. However, see IILA.7, LUCY HARRIS STATEMENT, 29 NOV

1833.

198

WILLIAM HYDE INTERVIEWS, 1888
from current rumors.”

“Did you authorize or encourage the scathing language used in the
Times article.”

“No sir; I would not speak ill of the Smiths, or Martin Harris, or Oliver
Cowdery under any consideration, I wrote an article on the ‘Birth of
Mormonism,’ but it was entirely different from the Times article. The most
important items of my article were omitted by the reporter who took charge
of my manuscript. [”]

Mr. Hyde, though nearly 90 years old, is as yet of a bright intellect, and
displays a marvelous memory. He is of a liberal mind and greatly surprised
your correspondent with his views on polygamy and the action of certain
politicians on the Mormon question, wondering how many of those who
are so active in “extirpating polygamy,” or trying to do so, would dare to
submit their private life to the scrutiny of the public who applaud their action.
Mr. Hyde is about to become an author, being now engaged in writing an
autobiography, which promises to be an interesting work, as he is well-read,
and an acute observer, and has traveled considerably both in Europe and in
America. He desired to know more about the doctrines advocated by the
Latter-day Saints, and about the history of the Church, especially the
circumstances that led to the tragic death of the Smiths, since, as he said, he
could not believe that Joseph Smith could have been guilty of any misdeed
deserving of the death penalty.

L. E. ODINGA,

Chicago, Ill., Oct. 23d, 1888.

199

24.

ORSON SAUNDERS ACCOUNT, 1893

'‘Mormon Leaders at Their Mecca. ...Joe Smith’s Life at Palmyra,” New York
Herald, 25 June 1893, 12.

EDITORIAL NOTE

In this interview Orson Saunders (c. 1838-189?), youngest son of
Orlando and Belinda Saunders and nephew of Lorenzo and Benjamin
Saunders, relates what he heard his uncle Benjamin say about 1891 regarding
Joseph Smith’s obtaining the gold plates. Orson worked his father’s farm,
never married, and died in the 1890s (U.S. Census, Palmyra, Wayne County,
New York, 1860:844; 1880:340B; T. Cook 1930, 236-37). On 23 June 1893
he was interviewed by a correspondent of the New York Herald, who at the
same time interviewed John H. Gilbert and others in Palmyra and Manches¬
ter (see III.H.ll, JOHN H. GILBERT INTERVIEW, 1893; IILJ.25,
PALMYRA-MANCHESTER RESIDENTS ACCOUNT, 1893). The
Herald introduces Orson’s statement with the following:

While on the hill [Cumorah] Orson Saunders, the frisky bachelor farmer of
Palmyra, gave the story that Smith had told his uncle of how he found the
golden tablets. It is no doubt authentic, because the Saunders boys are trust¬
worthy and their uncle was well acquainted with the Smith family. Their
farms adjoined. The uncle’s name is Benjamin Saunders. He is eighty years
old and lives at Banker’s Station, near Hillsdale, Mich. He repeated the narra¬
tive only a year or two ago to Orson. This is the story: ...

Besides his interview with William H. Kelley in 1884 (see IILB.13,
BENJAMIN SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, CIRCA SEP 1884), the pre¬
sent account is the only other source that purports to record Benjamin
Saunders’s reminiscence. However, because the Herald’s reporting is third-
hand (a newspaperman’s reporting of Orson Saunders’s two-year-old
memory of his uncle Benjamin’s more than sixty-year-old memory of
what Joseph Smith told him) and uncorroborated, caution is in order.
Although Orson’s account contains elements similar to Benjamin’s inter¬
view with Kelley, for the most part Orson’s statement is unique. That
Orson was reported accurately is supported by the correspondent’s inter¬
view with John H. Gilbert in the same publication, which compares
favorably with other Gilbert interviews. Since most of Orson’s account

200

ORSON SAUNDERS ACCOUNT, 1893

cannot be corroborated elsewhere and it is unlike Benjamin’s previous
statement, which is similar to Willard Chase’s account (III.A.14, WIL¬
LARD CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11 DEC 1833, 242), one might
conclude Orson embellished his uncle’s account. However, it is also pos¬
sible that Benjamin Saunders felt restrained with the critical, believing
Kelley, but spoke more freely with his nephew.

HOW JOE SMITH FOUGHT DEVILS.

... [Joseph] Smith had received several communications from the arch¬
angel, and was told on a certain day to repair that night to the holy mountain
and dig in a certain place, which he would recognize. It was shown him in
the vision. Accordingly he went there at midnight with a shovel and crowbar.
He recognized the spot and dug until he came to a large, flat stone. To use
Smith’s own words: —

‘T forced the crowbar under the stone and raised it without difficulty.
There I beheld a casket of golden plates, on which were inscribed the new
gospels. The glory of heaven shone around them and upon them. The place
seemed on fire. I was about to remove the plates when an enormous toad
appeared, squatting upon the pages. ^

“Instantly it was revealed to me that I had forgotten to carry out some
request made by the angel in digging for the plates. I had forgotten to give
thanks to God, and I knew what was passing in the toad’s mind. Instantly
the beast arose and expanded as large as a dog, then as a bullock, then it rose
far above me, a flaming monster with glittering eyes, until it seemed to fill
the heavens, and with a blow like lightning it swept me from the mountain
into the valley beneath.^

1. In 1884 Benjamin told William H. Kelley that the creature “looked
some like a toad” (IILB.13, BENJAMIN SAUNDERS INTERVIEW,
CIRCA SEP 1884, 23). Pomeroy Tucker reported in 1867 that “Smith told a
frightful story of the display of celestial pyrotechnics on the exposure to his
view of the sacred book,” adding that “this story was repeated and magnified
by the believers” (IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 30-
31; see also IILK.24, HEBER C. KIMBALL AUTOBIOGILAPHY, 1864).

2. In 1884 Benjamin Saunders simply said the creature “rose up into a
man which forbid him to take the plates” (IILB.13, BENJAMIN SAUN¬
DERS INTERVIEW, CIRCA SEP 1884, 23). Willard Chase similarly stated
that Smith saw in the box “something like a toad, which soon assumed the
appearance of a man, and struck him on the side of his head ... and knocked
him three or four rods, and hurt him prodigiously” (III. A. 14, WILLARD
CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11 DEC 1833, 242).

201

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

ANOTHER VISITATION.

“The sun was shining high in the heavens when I came to my senses.
Again the angel of the Lord appeared and instructed me how I should further
proceed. I acknowledged the mistake I had made and on that night I again
repaired to the holy mountain. But the stone was not there, nor was there
any sign that it had ever been there or that I had dug for it. But a revelation
came to me on the spot. A new place to dig was pointed out and in a few
moments I reached a big flat stone, and offering up thanks I removed it with
the crowbar. The golden plates were flaming again in celestial splendor. The
toad was not there. Then I knew it was all right.

“Again thanking the Almighty I removed the plates, but was so agitated
I could hardly move. The moment I touched them a thousand devils sprang
into light. They were all around the hill; the mountain seemed alive with
them; they were in the air; they perched on my shoulders. They could do
nothing, however. I was protected by the angel of God. But I had to fight
for it. It was a struggle to get down from the mountain. Many a time I thought
the holy plates would be taken from me, but I never let go of them until I
found a place to hide, that I might rest and recover my strength. The country
was heavily timbered in those days, but I was not afraid to go through the
woods. On the following day I had the plates safely clasped to my breast and
I carried them home and afterward hid them in a cave, where I began the
first translation of the inspired pages.” ...

202

25.

Palmyra-Manchester residents Account,

1893

“Mormon Leaders at Their Mecca. ...Joe Smith’s Life at Palmyra,” New York
Herald, 25 June 1893, 12.

EDITORIAL NOTE

This reporter’s account of statements collected from persons living in
the Palmyra-Manchester area in 1893 must be read with caution since his
sources are not identified, although he evidently relied on Pomeroy Tucker’s
published account (IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867).
The reporter also interviewed John H. Gilbert and Orson Saunders, nephew
of Benjamin Saunders (see III.H.ll, JOHN H. GILBERT INTERVIEW,
1893; and IILJ.24, ORSON SAUNDERS ACCOUNT, 1893). What
follows is the unidentified portion of the report.

SMITH’S LIFE AT HOME.

The brief story ofjoe Smith’s career, as told in this town, is as follows: —
He was of a family of nine children, who came to Palmyra from Royalton,
Vt., in 1816.^

At first the Smiths opened a cake and ale stand in the village of Palmyra.
The boys “worked round,” dug wells and chopped wood now and then, but
Joseph, Jr., was opposed to manual labor except in great emergencies.
According to people who knew him best he was a silent, lazy boy — often
called stupid. But he was a weU built fellow, with blue eyes and light hair,
sometimes spoken of as a full faced, chuckle headed lad who took life easy
and dreamed and schemed while others toiled.^

At that time there was a craze for treasure hunting, and many things of
value had been discovered in Indian mounds. Smith took advantage of the
mania, and when digging for gold he superintended the job and showed an
unusual amount of energy in making people believe in his strange fancies. It
was his custom to go out with a party and dig for money or relics on the hiUs

1. Rather Norwich, Vermont. The reporter evidently follows IILJ.8,
POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 12.

2. See III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 12.

203

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

at midnight. Usually he was half asleep and idle, but on special days, at general
musters, elections and political meetings, he turned out with the whole Smith
family. They put their cheap merchandise on sale, with cakes, beer, hard
cider and boiled eggs. Joseph is described as a silent boy who never smiled,
and he kept himself in the background while developing his schemes for
creating a sensation; then he came to the front and appeared as a leader.
Incessant and tireless, he pursued his game. As young Smith grew older, he
became the master of the family — father and brothers followed him to the
end. Joe was the chief vagabond of this New England gypsy family. Horses,
whiskey, craft and story telling characterized his worldly career.

Three years after the family had opened their little shop of gingerbread
and ale in Palmyra the Smiths “squatted” on a piece of timber land of one
hundred and fifty or two hundred acres, about two miles south of the village
certre. First they had a log house, which was never completely finished; then
they built a frame house which was not finished until long afterward.^ All
survivors agree that the Smiths were a shiftless lot, particularly Joseph, Jr.

MOPJVION FAPJVlING.

Their fields were half cleared, half ploughed, half cultivated and half
harvested. At times they made brooms and baskets, peddled vegetables and
were hucksters rather than farmers. When other boys were hoeing corn Joe
was hunting or fishing or getting up a party to dig for money. He claimed
to have a clairvoyant insight into things that other people could not see. He
always had two or three pots of money or chests of valuables on tap in his
mind’s eye, and this explains why the hills of Palmyra to-day are covered
with holes which Apostle Joe Smith, Jr., had inveigled his fellow citizens
into digging. The money mania was the talk of the country for miles around.
When Joe and his followers visited Pennsylvania and began turning up the
clay of that State many people thought Joe Smith a great man if not an honest
one.

In the autumn of 1819"^ an incident occurred which put young Joe
Smith into a wider field of operations. It was the beginning of a series of fake
discoveries, which culminated in his claim that with the assistance of a
beautiful angel he had discovered the golden plates of a new Gospel.

The elder Smith was digging a well for Clark Chase, ^ two miles south
of Palmyra. The Chase children were playing about the well, when one of

3. See IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 13.

4. Should be 1822; the reporter follows the error in IILJ.8,

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 19 (see Ibid., n. 32).

5. See IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, n. 33.

204

PALMYRA-MANCHESTER RESIDENTS ACCOUNT, 1893

the Smith boys shovelled out a clear v^hite stone shaped like a human foot.
It was quite transparent, something like a “peep” stone which the Chase
children had used as a plaything. One of the girls said that when she peeped
into the stone she saw things that had been lost. She was quite joyous over
the treasure until young Joe, who was idling about the well, seized the agate
and carried it away. Joe was quiet for several days. Presently it was whispered
that he had discovered a charm in which he could see wonders. With an air
of mystery he would look at the stone shaded in his hat and see visions and
any amount of lost property. Each day he had new revelations for his open
mouthed followers.

In a few weeks people were paying money for his oracles. Many a man
was sent over the hills in search of lost cattle, on a fool’s errand, of course,
but Joe made money and the public apparently fancied humbugging, and
that made him a great success.

SMITH’S SPIRITUAL VISIONS.

It was not long before he had heavenly visions. Men paid to join his
search for treasures. His conditions were that no person should speak during
the digging. A whisper would cause the box of gold to vanish forever. A
confederate generally broke the charm at the proper moment and thus
prevented exposure.

Next, young Joe must have a sacrifice and soak the ground with blood,
to enable him to discover the hidden treasure. A fat sheep was given, its
throat cut, but somebody extinguished the torches, and amid Smith’s protests
and cries of indignation the sheep disappeared. On the following day there
was a grand feast under the prophet’s roof ^ The mutton was tender and Joe
a power in the family. He kept the pots fiUed with mutton, and the Smith
family waxed notorious.

These gypsy feats and impostures continued until Joe Smith and his
gold diggers were visited by people from other States. Nearly all of young
Smith’s followers were without money or character. The exception was
Martin Harris,^ an honest farmer, who lived near the village. He was a
business man by nature, had a good farm, but his weakness was in his belief

6. See III.A.14, WILLARJ3 CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11
DEC 1833, 240.

7. See III.A.13, WILLIAM STAFFORD STATEMENT, 8 DEC
1833, 239.

8. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

205

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

in Joe Smith’s spiritual powers. He affirmed that he had every proof of Joe
Smith’s divine nature.

ORIGIN OF THE MORMON BIBLE.

At this point in the Smith narrative the Mormon Bible hoax enters.
Volumes have been written about it and strenuously denied by the Mormons.
The best informed people of Palmyra, however, believe the story of the
stealing of what was known as the Spalding manuscript, which Joe Smith had
copied and interpolated with passages from the Bible and palmed off as a
revelation from God. ...

Not long after this [about 1827] a mysterious stranger appeared closeted
with Joe Smith. It was [Sidney] Rigdon.^^ He had frequent interviews with
the young apostle, and there was evidently something important brewing.
Smith’s revelations grew more frequent. He had a new dispensation to relate
every time he visited the village. Farmer Harris, the only follower of Smith
who had more money than he knew what to do with, mentioned Smith’s
name with new reverence. Smith told him that he had met an angel and
would have a new gospel for the public very soon. Later he came into town
pale and exhausted, but his eyes were radiant. He said he had been on a
mountain by direction of the angel, had had a fight with the devil, and after
a long conflict had secured the golden pages of the new gospel. He would

translate it by means of spiritual spectacles which accompanied the metal

pages.

In a few days^^ Martin Harris, the honest farmer, was ready to sacrifice
his life for the only true revelation. He went to Mr. Grandin,^^ the village
editor, who listened to his proposition to put the Bible in print. Mr.
Grandin refused to do the work. Harris visited Thurlow Weed’s^"^ printing

9. Then follows a discussion of the Spaulding theory.

10. See IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 28. On
Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to LA.13, SIDNEY RIGDON
ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

11. This is incorrect since Harris did not learn of Smith’s discovery of
gold plates until the month after Smith had taken them from the hill (see
III.F.IO, MARTIN HARRIS INTERVIEW WITH JOEL TIFFANY,

1859, 167-68).

12. The events described in this paragraph occurred in June 1829, not
“a few days” after the discovery of the plates in September 1827.

13. On Egbert B. Grandin (1806-45), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 77.

14. On Thurlow Weed (1792-1882), see introduction to IILK.17,
THURLOW WEED ICEMINISCENCES, 1854, 1858, 1880 & 1884.

206

PALMYRA-MANCHESTER RESIDENTS ACCOUNT, 1893

office in Rochester and received a similar answer/^

Then Mr. Harris returned, went to Mr. Grandin and put his offer in
business form; said he would give bonds to pay for the work if necessary.
Mr. Grandin finally consented to print an edition of 5,000 copies, as stated
at the beginning of this article, for 3,000 cash. It was a large sum in those
days and ultimately Martin Harris, the honest man, had to mortgage his farm
to pay the bill.^^ ...

15. See III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 51-52.

16. See III.L.14, MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829.

207

26.

DANIEL HENDRIX REMINISCENCE, 1893

“Origin of Mormonism. Joe Smith and His Early Habits. How He Found
the Golden Plates. A Contemporary of the Prophet Relates Some Interesting
Facts,” San Francisco Chronicle, 14 May 1893, 12. Reprinted in New York
Times, 15 July 1895, 5; St. Louis Daily Globe- Democrat, 21 February 1897,
34; New York Sun, 21 March 1897; and New York Advertiser, 28 May 1897;
unidentified newspaper clipping, 16 April 1897, William H. Samson Scrap¬
books, 78:2-3, Rochester Public Library, Local History Room, Rochester,
New York; unidentified newspaper clipping, April 24 [1897?], Arthur B.
Deming Collection, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, Illinois; uniden¬
tified newspaper clipping, undated [1897?], “Journal History,” 1930 section,
LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah; and Buffalo Courier, 6 August
1899.

EDITORIAL NOTE

The reliability of Daniel Hendrix’s statement has been challenged by
Richard L. Anderson, who writes: “The lateness of the ‘recollection’
demands verification. ... To date rather diligent investigation has failed to
verify the existence of Daniel Hendrix (whose other rambling descriptions
are not notably accurate)” (R. L. Anderson 1970, 310, n. 53). I also have
failed to verify the existence of Daniel Hendrix in civil records, although I
have located a purported photograph of Hendrix and additional biographical
information.

Various dates have been given for Hendrix’s birth, 1806,^ September
1809,^ and 1811.^ Prior to his removal to Palmyra in 1822, where he worked
in a store, he lived in Rochester, New York. Following his move from
Palmyra about 1830, nothing is known of his life until the late 1880s when
he relocated from Ohio to southern California to be near his children and

1. Buffalo Courier, 6 August 1899, states: “He was born in 1806, and
was therefore almost 94 years of age when he died.”

2. New York Times, 15 July 1895, states: “Daniel Hendrix will be
eighty-six years old next September”; and St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, 21
February 1897, says: “He is 87 years of age ...”

3. San Francisco Chronicle, 14 May 1893, says: “He is 82 years of age ...”

208

Daniel Hendrix, as published in the Buffalo Courier,
6 August 1899.

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

grandchildren."^ The interview was conducted in May 1893 by Henry G.
Tinsley, formerly of Lyons, Wayne County, New York,^ a correspondent
of the San Francisco Chronicle, who refers to Hendrix as “a visitor in Rincon,
in San Bernardino county [California].” Tinsley also reports that the elderly
Hendrix “is now confined to his granddaughter’s home by severe physical
ailments.” When Hendrix’s reminiscence was reprinted with a new intro¬
duction in the New York Times, 15 July 1895, the report originated from
Ontario, San Bernardino, California, and stated that Hendrix “has made his
home with his daughter and grandchildren on a little alfalfa ranch several
miles southwest from this place in the Pomona Valley.”^

Subsequent reprintings suggest that Hendrix moved to the adjacent
Riverside County. In 1887 the St. Louis Daily Globe- Democrat said Hendrix
“lives at the home of his son in this vicinity,” referring to San Jacinto,
Riverside County, California. And an unidentified newspaper clipping in
the LDS church’s “Journal History,” mistakenly attributed to the year 1930,
introduces Hendrix’s reminiscence with the statement that “[he] lives at the

4. The Buffalo Courier, 6 August 1899, states that Hendrix “came to
live with his children in Ontario, Cal., ten years ago.”

5. A notice in the Arcadian Weekly Gazette (Newark, New York) for
31 May 1893 reads: “We have a copy of the San Francisco Chronicle contain¬
ing an interesting article on Mormonism and its origin, from the pen of
Henry G. Tinsley, of Pomona, Cal., formerly of Lyons [New York]. It con¬
tains the story of Daniel Hendrix, who told the story to Mr. Tinsley in Rin¬
con, Cal. Mr. Hendrix was formerly of Palmyra, and claims to be one of the
four men now living who were actual witnesses of the earliets [earliest] days
of Mormonism in Palmyra.”

6. Diedrich Willers, Jr., of Fayette, New York, who was conducting
research for his Centennial Historical Sketch of the Town of Fayette, Seneca
County, New-York, 1800-1900, which included information on Mormon ori¬
gins (see VLE.3, DIEDRICH WILLERS, JR., HISTORICAL SKETCH,
1900), saw the New York Times article and attempted to contact Hendrix. In a
letter addressed to Daniel Hendrix, Ontario, California, dated 27 July 1895,
Willers wrote: “I saw an article in the New York Times, contain=ing some of
your recollections of Joseph Smith the founder of the Mormon Church —
which I read with great interest” (Diedrich WiUers, Jr., Collection, Seneca
Falls Historical Society, Seneca Falls, New York). In the letter Willers criti¬
cized Hendrix for ignoring Smith’s activities in Fayette and questioned the
claim that Smith translated in a cave in Manchester. According to a notation
on the envelope, the letter was “Unclaimed” and “Advertised,” presumably
in a southern California newspaper (the normal procedure for unclaimed let¬
ters in nineteenth-century post offices). However, the letter remained un¬
claimed and was therefore returned to Willers.

210

DANIEL HENDRIX REMINISCENCE, 1893

home of his son in San Jacinto, California.”

Finally, the Buffalo Courier for 6 August 1899, which included a
photograph of Hendrix and reprinted Hendrix’s statement with new opening
material, reported that Hendrix, “a lifelong, devout Presbyterian,” had “died
in Santa Monica, Cal., the other day” (see also William H. Samson Scrap¬
book, 79:56, Local History Room, Rochester Public Library, Rochester,
New York). However, a search of death records for 1899 for Los Angeles
County, California, failed to turn up a death certificate for Daniel Hendrix.^

... “I was a lad, or a very young man, in a store in Palmyra, N.Y., from
1822 until 1830,” said Mr. Hendrix, “and among the daily visitors at the
establishment was Joseph Smith, Jr. Every one knew him as Joe Smith. He
had lived in Palmyra a few years previous to my going there from Rochester.
Joe was the most ragged, lazy fellow in the place, and that is saying a good
deal. He was about 25 years old.^ I can see him now, in my mind’s eye, with
his torn and patched trousers, held to his form by a pair of suspenders made
out of sheeting, with his calico shirt as dirty and black as the earth, and his
uncombed hair sticking through the holes in his old battered hat. In winter
I used to pity him, for his shoes were so old and worn out that he must have
suffered in the snow and slush, yet Joe had a jovial, easy, don’t-care way
about him that made him a lot of warm friends. He was a good talker and
would have made a fine stump-speaker if he had had the training. He was
known among the young men I associated with as a romancer of the first
water. I never knew so ignorant a man as Joe was to have such a fertile
imagination. He never could tell a common occurrence in his daily life
without embellishing the story with his imagination, yet, I remember that
he was terribly grieved one day when old Parson Reed^ told Joe that he was
going to hell for his lying habits.

“Mrs. Smith, Joe’s mother, was a staunch Presbyterian,^^ and was a great

7. Since this source also claims Hendrix’s children were located in On¬
tario, California, I also searched for a death record in San Bernardino County
with the same result (Anne L. Brandt, Research Assistant at the San Ber¬
nardino County Archives, San Bernardino, California, to Dan Vogel, 12 Oc¬
tober 1993).

8. Joseph Smith was twenty-five on 23 December 1830.

9. Richard L. Anderson has complained that he was unable to verify
the existence of “Parson Reed” (R. L. Anderson 1970, 310 n. 53), but Par¬
son might refer to his position as a clergyman rather than his name.

10. See IILL.20, PALMYILA (NY) PPJESBYTERIAN CHURCH
RECORDS, MAR 1830.

211

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

admirer of her son, despite his shiftless and provoking ways. She always
declared that he was bom with a genius, and did not have to work. ‘Never
mind about my son Joseph,’ said she one day when my employer had rallied
her upon her heir’s useless ways, ‘for the boy will be able some of these fine
days to buy the whole of Palmyra and all the folks in it. You don’t know
what a brain my boy has under that old hat.’^^

“For over two years Joe Smith’s chief occupation was digging for gold
at night and sleeping in the daytime. He was close-mouthed on the subject
of his gold-seeking operations around on the farms of Wayne county, where
not a speck of gold was ever mined, and when people joked him too severely
concerning his progress in getting the precious metal, he would turn his back
upon the jokers and bystanders and go home as fast as possible. With some
of us young men, however, who were always serious with him and affected
an interest in his work, he was more confidential.

“Joe, in his excursions after gold, carried a divining rod to tell him
where there was hidden treasure, and he left many holes in the ground about
that region, which testified that he could work if the spirit moved. He had
all the superstitions of the money-diggers of the day, one of which was that
the digging must be done at night and not a word must be spoken, for at the
first utterance the gold would fly away to some other locality; in fact, Joe
claimed that he had more than once been on the point of reaching some
great treasure, when, in his eagerness, some unlucky exclamation would
escape him and, presto! the treasure would vanish from under his feet.

“Finally in the fall — in September, I believe — of 1823 Joe went about
the village of Palmyra telling people of the great bonanza he at last found. I
remember distinctly his sitting on some boxes in the store and telling a knot
of men, who did not believe a word they heard, all about his vision and his
find. But Joe went into such minute and careful details about the size, weight
and beauty of the carvings [engravings] on the golden tablets, the strange
characters and the ancient adornments, that I confess he made some of the
smartest men in Palmyra mb their eyes in wonder. The women were not so
skeptical as the men and several of the leading ones in the place began to feel
at once that Joe was a remarkable man after all.

“Joe declared with tears in his eyes and the most earnest expression you
can imagine that he had found the gold plates on a hill six miles south of
Palmyra, on the main road between that place and Canandaigua. Joe had dug
and dug there for gold for four years, and from that time hill has been known
as Gold [Bible] hill.

11. Compare IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 17.

212

DANIEL HENDRIX REMINISCENCE, 1893

“For the first month or two at least Joe Smith did not say himself that
the plates were any new revelation or that they had any religious significance,
but simply said that he had found a valuable treasure in the shape of a record
of some ancient peoples, which had been inscribed on imperishable gold for
preservation. The pretended gold plates were never allowed to be seen,
though I have heard Joe’s mother say that she had lifted them when covered
with cloth, and they were very heavy, so heavy, in fact, that she could scarcely
raise them, though she was a very robust woman. What Joe at that time
expected to accomplish seems difficult to understand, but he soon began to
exhibit what he claimed to be copies of the characters engraved on the plates,
though the irreverent were disposed to think that he was more indebted to
the characters found on China tea chests and in histories of the Egyptians and
Babylonians than to any plates he had dug up near Palmyra. Before long,
however, a new party appeared on the scene in the person of one Sidney
Rigdon,^^ and thenceforward a new aspect was put upon the whole matter.^^
“I remember Rigdon as a man of about 40 years, smooth, sleek and
with some means. He had a wonderful quantity of assurance, and in these
days would be a good broker or speculator. He was a man of energy of
contrivance, and would make a good living anywhere and in any business.
He was distrusted by a large part of the people in Palmyra and Canandaigua,
but had some sincere friends. He and Joe Smith fell in with each other and
were cronies for several months. It was after Rigdon and Smith were so
intimate that the divine part of the finding of the golden plates began to be
spread abroad. It was given out that the plates were a new revelation and
were a part of the original Bible, while Joe Smith was a true prophet of the
Lord, to whom it was given to publish among men.

“Rigdon, who, from his first appearance, was regarded as the ‘brains’ of
the movement, seemed satisfied to be the power behind the throne. Not only
were pretended copies of the engraved plates exhibited, but whole chapters
of what were called translations were shown; meetings were held at the Smith

12. See LB.2, SALLY PARKER TO JOHN KEMPTON, 26 AUG

1838.

13. See V.E.2, BOOK OF MOFLMON CHATLACTERS, DEC 1827-
FEB 1828.

14. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to LA.13, SID¬
NEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

15. Hendrix may have followed Tucker in assuming Rigdon was re¬
sponsible for the Book of Mormon (see IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867, 28).

16. Sidney Rigdon was forty in 1833.

213

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

house and in the barns on the adjoining farms/^ which were addressed by
Smith and Rigdon, and an active canvass for converts was inaugurated.
Strange as it may appear from the absurdity of the claims set forth, and the
well-known character of Joe Smith, these efforts were to quite a degree suc¬
cessful, particularly among the unsophisticated farmers of the vicinity, and a
number of them, who were regarded as equal in intelligence to the average
rural population became enthusiastic proselytes of the new faith.

“One feature of the claim in relation to the translation from the plates
was quite in character with the claims that have been from time to time set
up by the Mormon church down to the present day. Joe Smith was, of course,
an illiterate man and some way must be provided for the translation of his
record. But Joe, or Rigdon, was equal to the emergency, for he claimed to
have found with the “Gold Bible,” as they then always called it, a wonderful
pair of spectacles, which he described as having very large round glasses,
larger than a silver dollar, and he asserted that by placing the plates in the
bottom of a hat or other deep receptacle, like a wooden grain measure, he
could put on those spectacles, and, looking down upon the plates, the
engraved characters were all translated into good, plain English and he had
only to read it off and have it recorded by a copyist.

“This claim with all its absurdity was not more absurd than one that
was made to me personally by Martin Harris, who was one of the early and
most faithful proselytes. Harris was a farmer of good property, residing about
a mile from the village, with whom I was well acquainted as a customer of
a firm where I was employed. On one occasion I had been out on horseback
on a collecting trip, and, returning in the early evening as I passed the house
of Mr. Harris, he came out, and joining me we rode together toward the
village. It was a beautiful evening in October, and as we were on elevated
ground sloping eastward toward the village in the same direction in which
we were going, the full moon, which was just rising, made everything before
us look most charming.

“As I made some remark on the beauty of the moon, he replied to the
effect that if I could only see it as he had done I might well call it beautiful.
I was at once anxious to know what he meant, and plied him with questions;
but beyond the assertion that he had actually visited the moon in his own

17. Ezra Thayre mentions Smith and Rigdon preaching in his barn in
Canandaigua (see IILJ.6, EZILA THAYRE REMINISCENCE, 1862); how¬
ever, this occurred in December 1830 after the Smiths had moved to Fayette.

18. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

214

DANIEL HENDRIX REMINISCENCE, 1893

proper person and seen its glories face to face, he was not disposed to be
communicative, remarking that it was only “the faithful that were permitted
to visit the celestial regions,” and with that he turned the conversation in less
ethereal channels.

“For three or four years Smith, Rigdon and Harris worked for converts
to the new faith. They all became from constant practice and study good
speakers, and Smith was at that time as diligent and earnest as he had
previously been lazy and careless. The three men traveled all over New York
State, particularly up and down the Erie canal. They were rotten-egged in
some places, hooted and howled into silence in others, and had some
attention in a few communities. Their meetings were generally poorly
attended, and people regarded the men as fools whose cause would soon die
out. I attended several of the meetings in Wayne and Ontario counties. Smith
would always tell with some effect how the angel had appeared to him, how
he felt an irresistible desire to dig where he did, and how he heard celestial
music and the chanting of a heavenly host as he drew the golden plates from
the earth and bore them to his home.

“He became so proficient in his description of the ecstatic joy in heaven
when he found the plates that I have known a large audience to hold its breath as
the sentences rolled from Smith’s mouth. I have seen some farmer’s wives be¬
come powerless and almost unconscious in the spell of religious enthusiasm
that Smith and Rigdon had created. The latter told in scores ofmeetings, and to
everyone with whom he came in contact, how he was frequently transported to
celestial spheres at night, while his body lay on his bed at home; how he had lis¬
tened to counsels from Moses and Elisha, how he actually walked in flowery
fields and down golden streets on some far off planet, and he would repeat in¬
structions that he pretended he had from Bible characters in the other world.

“Of the printing of the ‘Book of Mormon,’ I have a particularly keen
recollection. Smith and Rigdon had hard work to get funds together for the
new Bible. Smith told me himself that the world was so wicked and perverse
that it was hard to win converts; that he had a vision to print the Bible and
that as soon as that was done the work would be prospered wonderfully. A
new convert named Andrews,*^^ a plain old farmer, in Auburn, New York,

19. See Dan Vogel and Brent Metcalfe, “Joseph Smith’s Scriptural Cos¬
mology,” in Vogel 1990, 187-219.

20. Regarding Rigdon’s visions during his visit to New York in De¬
cember 1830~January 1831, see VLF.3, EZRA BOOTH ACCOUNTS,

1831. See also note 19 above.

21. A reminiscence by Thomas Davies Burrall mentions that “two
credulous men in Palmyra” applied for mortgages to print the Book of Mor-

215

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

mortgaged his property for $3000 to start the printing. The Wayne Sentinel,
published at Palmyra, did the work, on a contract for 5000 copies for $5000.^^
The printing office was on an upper floor, near the store where I worked,
and I was one of the few persons who was allowed about the office while
the publishing was going on.

‘T helped to read proof on many pages of the book, and at odd times
set some type. The copy was about half ready for the printer when there
came a halt in the proceedings, for Mrs. Harris,^^ wife of Martin Harris, had
become so disgusted with her husband’s conversion to the new religion and
his abandonment of his fine farm for preaching Mormonism, that she one
morning threw in the fire all the Bible manuscript that had been brought to
him for review by Smith. It was weeks before Joe Smith and Rigdon
recovered from their dismay at this act. Harris went down into his pockets
for $300 to repay the loss caused by his wife’s destruction of the manuscript.^"^

“The copy for the ‘Book of Mormon’ was prepared in a cave that Smith
and others dug near the scene of the finding of the golden plates on Gold
[Bible] hill. I went out there frequently for a Sunday walk during the process
of the translation of the plates, and the printing of the book. Some one of the
converts was constantly about the entrance to the cave, and no one but Smith
and Alvin [Oliver] Cowdry,^^ a school teacher there, who had proselyted that
season, was allowed to go through the door to the cave. Rigdon had some
hopes of converting me, and I was permitted to go near the door, but not so
much as to peep inside. Smith told me later that no one had ever seen the
golden plates but himself, and that he wore the glasses found with the plates,
and was thus able to translate the new message from heaven to the people.
He read aloud, and Cowdry, who was seated on the other side of a screen or
partition in the cave, wrote down the words as pronounced by Joe.

“The penmanship of the copy furnished was good, but the grammar.

mon (IILK.27, THOMAS DAVIES BURRALL REMINISCENCE, 1876).
However, this claim is highly unlikely since Martin Harris’s mortgage ade¬
quately covered the cost of printing.

22. ActuaUy $3,000 (see LL.14, MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE,
25 AUG 1829).

23. On Lucy Harris (1792-1837), see introduction to IILA.7, LUCY
HARRIS STATEMENT, 29 NOV 1833.

24. This is an extremely garbled account of the loss of the manuscript
in June/July 1828, which Hendrix mistakenly dates to 1829/30.

25. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

26. Compare IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 48-
50.

216

DANIEL HENDRIX REMINISCENCE, 1893

spelling and punctuation were done by John H. Gilbert, who was chief
compositor in the oflfice. I have heard him swear many a time at the syntax
and orthography of Cowdry and declare that he would not set another line
of type. The copy came in one conglomerate mass and there were no
paragraphs, no punctuation and no capitals. All that was done in the printing
office, and what a time there used to be in straightening sentences out, too!^^

“During the work of printing the book I remember that Joe Smith kept
in the background. He was wanted several times at the printing office to
explain some obscure sentence and apparent blunders in composition, but
he never came near the printers. He sent word by his brother Hyram^^ that
the work of translating absorbed his mind and functions so that he could not
attend to mundane business. Every morning Hyram Smith appeared at the
office with installments of copy of twenty-four pages buttoned up in his vest,
and came regularly and punctually for them at night.

“The publication of the book of 538 [588] pages was pushed with spirit,
but until it was completed not a copy was allowed to leave the office, but
every volume was packed in an upper room, and the pile they made struck
me at the time, and has since been vividly in my mind, as comparing in size
and shape with a cord of wood, and I called it a cord of Mormon Bibles.
The work was finished in the spring of 1830. Not long after the publication
was completed Smith and his followers began their preparations for a
removal, and ere long the parties, with their converts, packed up all their
belongings and left for Kirtland, 0[hio].

“This removal was not ‘on compulsion’ from any complaints of their
neighbors, like those they were subsequently compelled to make from
Kirtland and Nauvoo, but all seemed to enter into it readily and with the
utmost cheerfulness, though many abandoned homes of great comfort and
comparative wealth. In the exodus there were farmers who were customers
of the firm where I was employed, that sold their farms to the amount of
$15,000, all of which was committed to the care and tender mercy of Joe
Smith, and the votaries committed themselves to his care and guidance.”

HENRY G. TINSLEY.

POMONA, May 3, 1893.

27. See III.H.IO, JOHN H. GILBERT MEMOILANDUM, 8 SEP

1892.

28. On Hyram Smith (1800-44), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 12.

217

27.

philana a. foster to e. w. Taylor,
16 JULY 1895

Philana A. Foster to E. W. Taylor, 16 July 1895, Theodore A. Schroeder
Papers, Archives, Wisconsin State Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Writing on behalf of anti-Mormon writer Theodore A. Schroeder,
lawyer and notary public Edward W. Taylor^ of Salt Lake City addressed a
letter to Philana A. Foster of Albion, New York, dated 26 June 1895,
requesting information from her father about Mormon origins. The follow¬
ing is Taylor’s letter:

Dear madam: —

Your favor of June 4th 1895 with reference to the letter of my friend,
Mr. Schroeder, concerning Mormonism is at hand.

In the first place Mr. Schroeder would like to get as many as possible
of the early papers and magazines referring to Mormonism, especially those
published between 1825 and 1835. You, probably, will have none of them,
but can give him information by which he may be able to obtain some.

In Mr. [Pomeroy] Tucker’s book on Mormonism it is reported that
[Joseph] Smith told many inconsistent stories with reference to the finding
of the plates. Mr. S[chroeder]. desires to get as many of those stories as pos¬
sible from the persons to whom they were told and especially any published
record of them which may have been made at that time. Of course the
greatest detail is desirable because it is upon the details that the contradic¬
tions will most likely appear.

Mr. S[chroeder]. also desires a statement from your father of his con¬
nection with the making of the golden plates. It seems to be that your father
several times stated to me that he knew about their manufacture and was
connected with it. Kindly write me the facts about this, giving as much as
possible of Smith’s conversation and story concerning the plates. I trust
your father will give us a full and frank statement of this affair. ... (E. W.
Taylor to Philana A. Foster, Theodore A. Schroeder Collection, Archives,

1. Edward W. Taylor appears in the Salt Lake City Directory as a “law¬
yer & notary public” (e.g., 1897 and 1898) and “special agent and collector
[for] F. A. Timby” (1903).

218

PHILANA A. FOSTER TO E. W. TAYLOR 1895

Wisconsin State Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin).

The letter which follows, dated 16 July 1895, is Foster’s handwritten
response. Philana Foster, age forty-one, is listed with her husband Thomas
L. Foster (age sixty-three), in the 1870 census of Albion, Orleans County,
New York, as a ‘‘School Teacher” (1870:70A). She served as a preceptress
under Theodore T. Chapin, the principal of Albion Academy from 1870 to
1874 (Signor et al. 1894, 191). I have been unable to learn Philana’s maiden
name, so the identity of her father remains unknown at present.

Mr. E. W. Taylor

Albion[,] July 16th [18]95

Dear Sir

I am very sorry to have been so long in replying to your letter. 1st In
regard to the stories Father knew of only the one, that the golden plates <and
a stone> through which he <Smith> had to look to read them were found
in the side of a hill near Palmyra while he was diggin[g] for buried treasure.
Father had nothing to do with making of the plates,^ they and never saw
them; as a great favor he was allowed to “heft” them and to [p. 1] feel them
in the bag in which they were kept and which was made like a pillow case.
He does not think that any one besides “Joe Smith” ever saw the plates; at
least Cowdrey^ who wrote the Book of Mormon from Smiths dictation did
not, nor did Harris,"^ who mortgaged his <farm> to Egbert Grandin^ the
proprietor of The Wayne Co[unty]. Sentinel, to pay for the printing nor
<did> Major Gilbert^ who set the type and He died last winter I think. He
was one of Father’s most intimate friends. Father says that he never knew of

2. Foster’s statement that her father “had nothing to do with making
of the plates” may indicate Schroeder’s continued search for the “young man
who was a cab=inet makers apprentice” who E. E. Baldwin had claimed in a
previous letter had made a box which was filled with sand and then placed in
a sack and used by Joseph Smith to deceive people into thinking he possessed
gold plates (see III.J.21, E. E. BALDWIN TO W. O. NORILELL, 3 AUG
1887).

3. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

4. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

5. On Egbert B. Grandin (1806-45), see JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 77.

6. On John H. Gilbert (1802-95), see “Introduction to John H. Gil¬
bert Collection.”

219

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

their being dishonest accordin[g] to the common acceptation of the word.
They were a good natured, ignorant, shif<t>less family, disliking hard work,
spending their time in selling gingerbread, telling [p. 2] fortunes, locating
water for wells, and digging for hid <buried> treasures; it was the ridicule,
which people thought, which made him into he received for dig=ging whi
that made <him> invent the story of the golden plates. In the troubles the
Mormons had at Nauvo[o], Hiram Smith^ was killed, and Oliver Cowdrey
left them and went to Na Wisconsin, studied law and practiced there, till he
died. The Wayne Co<unty> Sentinel pub=lished at Palmyra and the
Ontario Messenger or Repository I forget which Published at Canandaigua
< Ontario County > are all the paperps that I know about. Remember me
kindly to Mrs Taylor and And Mar=guerite and tell her that I am very much
pleased to hear how nicely she is progressing

Yours respectfully
[s] Philana A Foster

[Note written sideways on page]

Father says that as far as he knows he is the only one living who resided in
Palmyra at that time.

7. On Hyrum Smith (1800-44), see JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY,
1839, n. 12.

220

28.

ALBERT CHANDLER TO WILLIAM LINN,
22 DECEMBER 1898

Albert Chandler to William Linn, 22 December 1898, William Linn, The
Story of the Mormons (New York: Macmillan Co., 1902), 48-49.

EDITORIAL NOTE

In 1898 William Linn^ obtained the present recollection of Albert
Chandler (c. 1813-?), who worked with Luther Howard in 1830 binding
the first edition of the Book of Mormon. Subsequently Chandler worked
briefly for Egbert B. Grandin as an apprentice printer. In 1835 Chandler
moved to Michigan, where, according to Linn, he was “connected with
several newspapers in that state, editing the Kalamazoo Gazette, and founding
and publishing the Coldwater Sentinel. He was elected the first mayor of
Coldwater, serving several terms” (p. 49). In the 1850 census of Coldwater,
Branch County, Michigan, the thirty-six-year-old Chandler is listed as a
farmer from New York (1850:350). This information coincides with that
provided by Linn, who states that Chandler “was in his eighty-fifth year
when the above letter was written” (p. 49).

COLDWATER, MICH., Dec. 22, 1898.

My recollection of Joseph Smith Jr. and of the first steps taken in regard
to his Bible have never been printed. At the time of the printing of the
Mormon Bible by Egbert B. Grandin^ of the Sentinel I was an apprentice in
the book-bindery connected with the Sentinel office. I helped to collate and

1. William Alexander Linn (1846-1917), journalist, was born at Deck-
ertown (now Sussex), New Jersey. After graduating from Yale in 1868, he be¬
came a reporter for the New York Tribune. In 1871 he became editor of the
New York Evening Post. After retiring from the Post in 1900, he published sev¬
eral works, including Story of the Mormons (1902), Rob and His Gun (1902),
and Horace Greeley (1903) {National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1891-
1980, 26:218-19).

2. On Egbert B. Grandin (1806-45), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 77.

221

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

stitch the Gold Bible, ^ and soon after this was completed, I changed from
book-binding to printing. I learned my trade in the Sentinel office.

My recollections of the early history of the Mormon Bible are vivid
to-day. I knew personally Oliver Cowdery,"^ who translated [transcribed?]
the Bible, Martin Harris,^ who mortgaged his farm to procure the printing,
and Joseph Smith Jr., but slightly. What I knew of him was from hearsay,
principally from Martin Harris, who believed fully in him. Mr. Tucker’s
“Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism”^ is the fullest account I have
ever seen. I doubt if I can add anything to that history.

The whole history is shrouded in the deepest mystery. Joseph Smith
Jr., who read through the wonderful spectacles, pretended to give the scribe
the exact reading of the plates, even to spelling, in which Smith was wofully
deficient.^ Martin Harris was permitted to be in the room with the scribe,
and would try the knowledge of Smith, as he told me, saying that Smith
could not spell the word February, when his eyes were off the spectacles
through which he pretended to work. This ignorance of Smith was proof
positive to him that Smith was dependent on the spectacles for the contents
of the Bible. Smith and the plates containing the original of the Mormon
Bible were hid from view of the scribe and Martin Harris by a screen.

I should think that Martin Harris, after becoming a convert, gave up
his entire time to advertising the Bible to his neighbors and the public
generally in the vicinity of Palmyra. He would call public meetings and
address them himself He was enthusiastic, and went so far as to say that God,
through the Latter Day Saints, was to rule the world. I heard him make this
statement, that there would never be another President of the United States
elected^; that soon all temporal and spiritual power would be given over to

3. According to E. R. Crandall, Chandler told him that he also
worked in Grandin’s shop as a printer’s “devil,” meaning an apprentice or er¬
rand boy, at the time the Book of Mormon was being printed (“Former
Palmyra Man Writes of Residents Past and Present,” Wayne County Journal,

21 November 1918).

4. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

5. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

6. See IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867.

7. See IILG.18, OLIVER COWDERY INTERVIEW WITH SA¬
MUEL W. RICHARDS, JAN 1849.

8. See III.H.IO, JOHN H. GILBERT MEMORANDUM, 8 SEP
1892, 5; IILF.6, EBER D. HOWE ON MARTIN HARRIS, 1834, 14; see
also Vogel 1989, 26.

222

ALBERT CHANDLER TO WILLIAM LINN, 1898

the prophet Joseph Smith and the Latter Day Saints. His extravagant
statements were the laughing stock of the people of Palmyra. His stories were
hissed at, universally. To give you an idea of Mr. Harris’s superstitions, he
told me that he saw the devil, in all his hideousness, on the road, just before
dark, near his farm, a little north of Palmyra.^ You can see that Harris was a
fit subject to carry out the scheme of organizing a new religion.

The absolute secrecy of the whole inception and publication of the
Mormon Bible estopped positive knowledge. We only knew what Joseph
Smith would permit Martin Harris to publish, in reference to the whole
thing.

The issuing of the Book of Mormon scarcely made a ripple of
excitement in Palmyra.

ALBERT CHANDLER.

9. See IILJ.15, STEPHEN S. HAILDING TO THOMAS GILEGG,
FEB 1882, 45.

223

29.

A. C. BUCK REMINISCENCE, 1899

“Rambling Recollections about Mormonism and Other Matters,” Shortsville
Enterprise, 11 February 1899, 3.

EDITORIAL NOTE

This item is attributed to “B.C.A.,” but a typed copy by an unidentified
Manchester Village historian identifies the author as “A. C. Buck” (Ontario
County Historical Society, Canandaigua, New York).^ Buck wrote the
present item in response to Elizabeth Cummings’s article “Two Strange
Men,” which appeared in the Shortsville Enterprise, 4 February 1899 (p. 3),
wherein she recounted Joseph Smith’s story of obtaining the plates and
outlined the Spaulding theory of the Book of Mormon’s origin.

Editor of the Enterprise:

I have read with much interest, as doubtless many of your readers have,
the excellent article on Mormonism contained in the ENTERPRISE of last
week. It is concise, right to the point, and is worth preserving by the residents
of this town as a well told bit of Mormon history. Few persons now living
remember much about Mormonism in its early days. I am more particularly
interested in this matter because I was in my boyhood somewhat familiar with
the rise and early history of this celebrated sect in the town of Manchester.
Oliver Cowdery,^ the person referred to, once lived in the village of
Manchester. He was a man of some education, a sort of pettifogging
half-fledged lawyer and often attended suits before Squire Mitchell,^ Squire

1. There is an Arin C. Buck, age forty-six, listed in the 1900 census of
Shortsville, Ontario County, New York. But this Buck is too young to be
the author of the present item, who describes himself as being born about
1818.

2. This part of A. C. Buck’s reminiscence is not about Oliver Cow-
dery as claimed, but rather apparently about Lyman Cowdery, Oliver’s
brother, who became a lawyer about 1825 and later served as an Ontario
County probate judge as well as two terms in the state legislature (Mehling
1911, 172; see also III.B.3, DANFORD BOOTH INTERVIEW, 1881).

3. Perhaps Peter Mitchell, in his forties, listed in the 1830 census of
Manchester, Ontario County, New York (1830:168).

224

A. C. BUCK REMINISCENCE, 1899

[Nathan] Pierce"^ and other Magistrates in this part of the country. Like most
lawyers he had a most wonderful gift of gab.

My father belonged to the same persuasion as pettifogger Cowdery;
often attended suits before a Justice of the Peace at the same time in
opposition to his friend. As was quite natural they became intimate and he
often visited at our house. I remember quite distinctly when I was a boy
about 12 years old, taking a trip in a one horse wagon (buggies like those we
use now were then unknown) with my father and this man Oliver Cowdery
to Palmyra. This was after Cowdery had joined the Mormons, and during
this ride I recollect how he used all the powers of his persuasive eloquence
to induce father to cast in his fortune with him in the new sect then much
talked about, telling him what wonderful honors and promotions were
waiting the acceptance of his invitation; but credulity was not one of my
father’s characteristics and all Cowdery’s promises of promotion in the
church failed in making a proselyte. Though nearly seventy years have passed
since then the writer remembers distinctly little bits of the conversation
referred to. Cowdery told my father that not long before, the Lord, in a
mysterious manner had appeared to him in the form of a young deer, who
crossed the road before him one day when he was driving to Palmyra and
disappeared instantly as if by magic. ^ Whether Cowdery was a credulous
fanatic or a designing knave this deponent saith not. He was not a fool;
whatever else he may have been.

In this connection let me say how well I recollect going with the two
pettifoggers before referred to, (Cowdery and father) my father as a witness
and Cowdery as attorney for plaintiff or defendant, I forget which, to attend
a lawsuit at the “poplar tavern” (Harmon’s.) A Canandaigua lawyer was there
to oppose Cowdery and in his final summing up address for his client he
made some disparaging remarks with reference to my father’s testimony
which made me so angry that I could scarcely contain myself Indeed I was
so indignant that I wrote to this Canandaigua lawyer, I have forgotten his
name, a letter which I suppose now was a very impertinent one, to which
very properly he paid no attention whatever. I was a young, simple, sensitive
boy then, and years afterwards when I had gained more knowledge of the
world and its ways, I learned that this lawyer had no personal ill feeling against
my father but was simply discharging his duty to his employer and working

4. On Nathan Pierce, see introduction to IILL.19, NATHAN
PIERCE DOCKET BOOK, 1830.

5. Compare III.F.l, MARTIN HARRIS INTERVIEWS WITH
JOHN A. CLAPJC, 1827 & 1828.

225

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

along the line of his profession and according to his knowledge in the interests
of his client. The case was not decided until late in the evening, after which
we drove home by way of Manchester where we left Cowdery and went on
to our own home in Shortsville. Just after we passed Henry’s tannery near
the old Jed Dewey place we were overtaken by a terrific thunder storm which
I shall never forget as long as I live. The night was as dark as black ink and
I never heard such thunder or saw such lightning before or since. I was a
timid boy and I was dreadfully frightened. I remember how I wondered that
Cowdery and father could possibly carry on their conversation in the
ordinary indifferent manner. I thought it was extremely irreverent in the face
of what seemed to me most imminent danger.

I never knew or heard anything about Joseph Smith in those early days
but I have often heard the late Mrs. Walker^ say that while she did not
recollect ever having seen Joseph Smith herself she knew and had heard a
great deal about him when she was a girl. She said he was considered by the
community generally as a simple-minded though shrewd fortune-teller
whose moral character was not first class. Mrs. Walker said he used to travel
around the country telling the fortunes of people who were possessed of
more credulity than sense, by means of a magic stone that he looked at
concealed in an old hat which he carried around with him.

The first Mormon church, or rather the first church of Jesus Christ of
the latter day saints, was organized in the town of Manchester^ on the 6th
day of April, 1830, but where this organization took place, whether in the
village of Manchester, at some school house, church or private residence we
have no record to show. The next year (1831) “the saints” removed to
Kirtland, Ohio. ...

In the article you quote it is stated that “There is no reliable record that
any one save Smith ever saw the ‘golden plates.’” This may be true, still there
is evidence (perhaps not reliable) that other persons than Joe Smith saw and
handled those plates, which had the appearance of being gold. Just read the
following solemn declaration: ...^ A similar declaration is made by Oliver
Cowdery and Martin Harris.^

6. While there are a number of Walkers in Manchester, I have been
unable to specifically identify this Mrs. Walker.

7. A number of early sources designate Manchester as the location of
the church’s organization (see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, n.
82).

8. The Testimony of Eight Witnesses has been deleted (see III. L. 13,
TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES, JUN 1829).

9. See VI.G.l, TESTIMONY OF THREE WITNESSES, JUN 1829.

226

A. C. BUCK REMINISCENCE, 1899

These declarations are found in the Mormon bible. What are we to
think of all this? These men were said to have been respectable citizens,
intelligent men. Were they designing knaves and impostors, or deceived,
credulous fanatics? Who can tell?

B.C.A.

227

30.

CHARLES W. BROWN ACCOUNT, 1904

[Charles W. Brown], “Manchester in the Early Days,” Shortsville Enterprise,
11 March 1904 and 18 March 1904. Undated clippings of Charles W.
Brown’s series in the Shortsville Enterprise are located in the ShortsviUe Free
Press file. Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young
University, Provo, Utah.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Charles W. Brown published a series of articles on early Manchester
history. Articles deahng with Mormon origins are numbered XXXIII-
XXXVI (each article was published in two installments). Only article
XXXIV is published here, since articles XXXIII and XXXV are largely
reworkings of IILJ.2, ORSAMUS TURNER ACCOUNT, 1851, and
XXXVI relies heavily on IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT,
1867. Charles W. Brown, age thirty-one, is listed in the 1880 Manchester,
Ontario County, New York, census as a book keeper (1800:292). He was
also the census taker for the 1880 Manchester enumeration.

[Article XXXIV, Part 1, 11 March 1904]

As was stated in the preceding article, the Smith family were firm
believers in the truth of various legends which designated Mormon Hill as
the depository of large deposits of untold treasure. Night after night had the
father and sons, Alvah [Alvin] ^ and Joseph, delved and dug in different spots,
but so far as the outer world knew their search was never rewarded with
success. Occasionally they would tell of important discoveries, but these
stories were always related to some person whose pecuniary or other
substantial assistance they desired, and so their marvelous tales soon came to
be received with many grains of allowance, and finally were greeted with
the cold stare of unbelief They claimed to have in their possession a
miraculous stone which although it was densly opaque to ordinary eyes, was
still luminous and transparent to the orbs of Joseph, Jr. This stone was one
of the common horn blende variety; some of which may be picked up any
day on the shores of lake Ontario. It was kept in a mysterious box, carefully

1. On Alvin Smith (1798-1823), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 10.

228

CHARLES W. BROWN ACCOUNT, 1904

wrapped in cotton.^ As an illustration of the ludicrous manner in which this
stone was made to innure [inure] to the physical prosperity of its owners, the
following well authenticated anecdote is related: It was claimed that Joseph,
Jr., by placing it in a hat could discover by looking into the hat the precise
spot where the hidden treasure was buried. Among the many dupes which
were victimized by this story, was one William Stafford.^ They repeated the
tale to him time and time again, with such solemn asseverations of its truth,
that at last he began to believe that there might be something in it, and so
consented to join them in one of their midnight expeditions. When the
evening which had been agreed upon came around, he hied him to the Smith
domicile, and there awaited developments. Soon Joseph joined the circle
before the hearth, bearing with him the stone carefully concealed in a well
worn and antiquated beaver [hat]. Seating himself, he placed his face where
his pate ought to have been, and after peering intently into the recesses
thereof, made the encouraging announcement that he saw a pot full to
overflowing with glittering shiners, and that he could lead the assembled
coterie to the precise spot and by a little dilligent digging combined with a
strict observations of all the conditions imposed, they could speedily exhume
the same, and make a pro rata division of the contents thereof. No time was
now lost in getting under way, and arming themselves with shovels, pick
axes and implements of a like nature, they started forth with Joseph and the
magic stone at the head of the column. “Tramp, tramp, tramp” they went
“marching on,” through the forests and across the fields, until after a long
and weary march their leader commanded a halt. Joseph, Sr."^ now came to
the front and produced a piece of twine with a sharp pointed stake attached
to each of its ends. A solemn injunction to preserve the strictest silence was
now laid upon every one of the party, as it was said that the Evil One was
around Hstening, that if he heard them, he too would then know where the
buried gold was, and before they could dig down to it, would spirit it away
to some other locality, and thus deprive them of the fhiits of their nocturnal
travels and labors. Joseph now advanced on tip toe to the spot he had selected,
and taking one of the stakes from his father, forced the same into the soil,
while his worthy sire unwound the string, and firmly grasping the other stake
in his hand proceeded to strike out, and “swing around,” the magic circle

2. This introductory material is a reworking of III.J.2, ORSAMUS
TURNER ACCOUNT, 1851.

3. On William Stafford (c. 1786-1863), see introduction to III. A. 13,
WILLIAM STAFFORD STATEMENT, 8 DEC 1833.

4. On Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

229

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

within which the treasure was to be found. Work was now commenced in
earnest. Silently and mysteriously the delvers delved. Not a word was uttered,
not even a whisper disturbed the profound and unearthly silence; the laborers
hardly dared to breathe, and the only sound which was heard was that which
was made by the instruments of excavation as they went deeper and deeper
into the bowels of the earth. Time rolled on, the minutes lengthened into
hours, the pile of disturbed earth grew larger and larger, the hole grew deeper
and deeper, the laborers grew wearier and wearier, until they began to be
doubtful of success. The advent of the coming morn was near at hand when
the puendo [pseudo?] prophet with drew himself into a thicket, and after
looking into the cavernous depths of the superannuated chapeau, dolorously
announced to his followers, that some of the prescribed conditions had been
violated, and that Satan had carried off the concentrated riches to some other
locality. They dug no longer but went to their homes, where it is suspected
that they did ample justice to the matutinal meals. Before separating however,
Joseph took another look into the hat, and made the encouraging an¬
nouncement that his precious pebble had revealed to him the precise spot
where [Le Diablo?] had secreted his ill gotten and recently acquired wealth.
He told them that inasmuch as the prophet of lies had now got the lucre into
his possession, it would be necessary when they dug again to use some
extraordinary means of enchantment to drive him away; that he had a mortal
aversion to blood drawn from any bleeding animal, and that the stone had
revealed to him the important fact, that if a black bell wether should be led
around the circle with its throat cut and bleeding, Satan would be completely
outwitted, and their recovery of the treasure would be the certain result.
Now it so happened that Mr. [William] Stafford was the owner of an animal
which fully answered to all the prescribed conditions, but of course Jo did
not know this fact! Oh no, he was a prophet and a seer, and therefore could
not burden his mind with such small matters, as to which particular one of
all his neighbors was the owner of a lusty, black bell wether. But some of
the party remembered the fact, and brought it to the attention of Joseph.
Immediately Mr. Stafford was importuned by one and all to consent to the
sacrifice of his sheep, which he finally did. What was one sheep in comparison
to the untold wealth which had haunted his dreams, and which when
acquired, was to bring to him comfort and ease luxury for the balance of his
life? This little matter having been satisfactorily adjusted, and having agreed
upon the time when the performance should take place, the party separated.

[Article XXXIV, Part 2, 18 March 1904]

The appointed night again came on and the same party was again

230

CHARLES W. BROWN ACCOUNT, 1904

assembled in the best room of the Smith mansion, but outside the door might
have been heard the occasional jingling of a bell, v^hich told that the black
bell wether was on hand, prepared and ready for the sacrifice. The same
performance of hat gazing was again gone thro[ugh] with, and once again
they started forth. At length they arrived at the designated spot, far removed
from the former one. Again the same cautions as to silence were uttered,
again the stakes were planted and once again the magic circle was drawn.
The wether led by the hand of his master was brought to the circle, and as
his mild eyes rested confidently upon the group, he received the death dealing
stroke. His throat was severed, as per directions of the horn blende pebble,
and as his life blood welled forth, he was led around the ring pouring it on
the ground as he staggered and stumbled along. The single revolution was
at length completed and poor bell wether was left to expire as best he might,
while his cruel and avaricious executioners seizing their implements com¬
menced eagerly to throw out the earth. Will you believe it, dear reader?
They didn’t find a dollar; there was no money there, nor no pot to put money
in. How long they worked is unknown, but it was until the prophet in
embryo had again consulted the stone, and so gave to his dupes some reason
for their failure, which undoubtedly was as simple and foolish as the whole
proceeding had been. But now a singular circumstance occurred; Mr.
Stafford on looking for the carcass of his black bell wether, undoubtedly
having in view a broiled leg of mutton, was somewhat nonplussed to find
that it had disappeared as mysteriously as the coveted riches; he also made
the farther discovery, and a singular coincidence it was, that the seer’s paternal
progenitor was also missing. The fact was that while Stafford had dug. Smith
had dressed the carcass, and when its absence was discovered was far advanced
on his homeward route. When Mr. Stafford learned, as learn he did, that for
a few days the Smiths had regaled themselves on mutton chops, &c., he lost
all faith in human nature, the scales fell from his eyes and he saw that he had
been victimized. It may be that the investment of the black bell wether in
the course of time proved to be a profitable one, as it assuredly did, if thereby
he was saved from a belief in the Bible hoax. They might have made a Martin
Harris^ of him, but knowing that a hooked fish is not apt to bite the second
time, they never attempted to hoodwink him again. ^ Many instances of a
similar nature occurred, always resulting in some substantial gain to the

5. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

6. Concerning the sacrifice of William Stafford’s sheep, see III. A. 13,
WILLIAM STAFFORD STATEMENT, 8 DEC 1833, 239.

231

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

exchequer or the cellar of the Smiths, but this one must suffice as an
illustration of them all. Soon other stories of a more mysterious and uncanny
nature still began to be put in circulation, the most notable of which was the
following: They pretended that “while digging for money at Mormon Hill
they came across a chest, three by two feet in size, covered with a dark
colored stone. In the center of the stone was a white spot about the size of
a six pence. Enlarging, the spot increased to the size of a twenty-four pound
shot, and then exploded with a terrible noise. The chest vanished and all was
utter darkness.” This palpable fraud was whispered in the ears of the
credulous, with what design cannot be told, but that they had some sinister
object in view cannot be reasonably doubted. Among the other methods
which the Smith family employed to “keep the wolf from the door,” was
that of manufacturing and selling oil cloths. This work was principally
performed by Mrs. Smith. She wove the threads and painted the cloths
herself, and when a sufficient stock was found to be on hand, it was her
custom to start out herself and hawk her wares from door to door. This
afibrded a good opportunity for the dissemination of her doctrines and she
improved it. It was while she was thus engaged that she commenced to
prophesy the advent of a new religion of which her son was to be the prophet.
By this means, a sense of expectation for the coming of some great event,
was diffused thro [ugh] the community, and so when it was announced that
Joseph had actually found the massive golden tablets, there were some whose
credulity led them to believe that the story was a truthful one, because it had
been predicted, while still another class who had doubted the prophecy,
began to have faith in it because of the seeming confirmation of it which
was made by the discovery of the tablets. But by far the major portion of the
community had sense enough to see that neither the prophecy nor the event
had any proof of their verity, except what came from the Smiths, and to see
that if their statements were to be unquestionably accepted as the truth, it
was easy enough to manufacture any pretended event, to confirm the
prophecies which had fell from their lips. While these mysterious hints were
being circulated thro [ugh] the community, the conspirators had excavated
for their own use a hole in the ground. This was nothing more nor less than
an artificial cave which they had dug in a side hill now owned by the
Chauncey Miner heirs. ^ This hill may be found at any time on lot 77 of the

7. This quote, as well as the preceding two sentences, are from III J.2,
ORSAMUS TURNER ACCOUNT, 1851, 216.

8. See IILB.12, LOILENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP
1884, 7-8; and IILB.15, LORENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 12 NOV

232

CHARLES W. BROWN ACCOUNT, 1904

original survey,^ to the south of the highway running from the Palmyra Plank
road [Canandaigua Road] to the residence of Mark Jefferson. It is situated
about equi-distance between the terminii of the road and faces to the north.
The entrance to this cave was guarded by an iron-plated door.^^ The cave
itself was about sixty feet in length and ten feet high. From the door for a
distance of forty feet, there was a hall fifteen feet wide which led to the
chamber beyond. This chamber or audience room was twenty feet square,
and was furnished with one rude table and half a dozen uncouth stools. It
was here that the secret meetings of the plotters were held up to the time
they commenced holding public meetings for the purpose of making
converts. In this small recess, secure from any interference by skeptical
persons, by the flaring light of a tallow candle, was the plan of operations
fully discussed and decided upon. It is stated that Darius Pierce, one of the
sons of Nathan, at the head of a party of his associates surprised the parties
when they were assembled together in one of their noctur[n]al consultations
and that a lively time ensued. And now the fulness of time had come, “aU
things had conspired together for good,” and the incipient fraud was on the
eve of its consummation. One morning as the settlers went to their daily
work a strange rumor was passed from mouth to mouth that the night before,
the Smiths in one of their midnight expeditions had commenced digging on
the north-western spur of Mormon Hill, and had been rewarded by the
discovery of several golden tablets, which were covered with hieroglyphics.
The rumor spread from house to house, but dilligent inquiry failed to
discover any evidence beyond that of the Smiths themselves, which would
serve in the least to verify the statement. But the seed had been implanted
in the minds of the credulous, and for a brief time was left to grow of its own

1884, 8.

9. The major portion of the hill is situated on Manchester Lot 2 with a
small portion on Lot 77.

10. The present name of this “highway” is Miner Road.

11. According to Pomeroy Tucker, the door was made of wood
(IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 49).

12. This description of the cave is incorrect. When it was reopened in
1974 by then owner Andrew H. Kommer, the cave was “about six feet high
at the largest point in the middle and 10-12 feet long” (“Palmyra Farmer
Claims Cave Dug by Mormon Prophet, Church Founder,” Palmyra Courier
Journal, 1 May 1974).

13. Darius Pierce, son of Justice Nathan Pierce, is also mentioned in
III.B.l, KELLEY NOTES, 6 MAR 1881, 3, back; see also IILJ.38, CAR¬
LOS OSGOOD STATEMENT, 1932; and IILD.2, SYLVIA WALKER
STATEMENT, 20 MAR 1885.

233

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

volition. Other rumors soon began to circulate, to the effect that Joseph, the
prophet, v^as engaged in a translation of his discovered record of antiquity,
which was soon to be printed in common English and submitted to the
inspection of an unregenerated world.

234

31.

W. C. ACCOUNT, 1904

Wayne County Journal, 24 March 1904.

EDITORIAL NOTE

This late account is attributed to “W. C.,” evidently a longtime resident
in the vicinity of Palmyra, perhaps William Chapman, then owner of the
Smiths’ former Manchester property (see n. 2 below).

... That Joseph Smith has gone to a better land is not believed by those
of the old inhabitants who knew him as a neighbor. They say he was idle
and shiftless; a dreamer, a treasure seeker and addicted to chicken raising.

The place where this splendid fraud was planned was an artificial cave
which the conspirators had dug in a side hill to the south of the highway
running from the old Palmyra plank road [Canandaigua Road] to the
residence of Mark Jefferson. The entrance of the cave was guarded by an
iron-plated door, and the cave was fully sixty feet in length and ten feet high.
At the end was a broad chamber furnished with a rude table and stools. Here
it was that the treasure seekers were want to meet and consult the “peek
stone,” and in the latter days the first converts to the new faith made their
rendezvous before they began to hold public meetings for the purpose of
making converts. It is stated that Darius Pierce, at the head of a party of
neighbors surprised one of the nocturnal assemblies and that a lively time
ensued.^

Another meeting place was the log cabin in the woods where dwelt
the Smith family. Sometimes these meetings were interrupted by thunderings
overhead, as if the Lord were answering their prayers from heaven. In later
years when the building was torn down several cannon balls were found
concealed under a false roof over the rafters. They could be moved by a
string so as to give forth a rolling sound as of thunder. This is the method
employed in modern theatres for the same purpose.^ ...

1. Compare IIIJ.30, CHARLES W. BROWN ACCOUNT, 1904,
and accompanying notes.

2. This account is similar to William Chapman’s statement to a re¬
porter of the New York Herald in 1893. Chapman, who then owned the
Smiths’ former property, recalled that while “making repairs in the roof” of

235

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

... He [Smith] often attempted to prove his semi-divine nature by
various devices. He twice attempted to walk upon the water but in each case
the planking gave way and he was ingloriously dunked.^

The writer’s grandfather, a Walworth [Wayne County] farmer, was
approached by Smith one day while he was at work beside the fire in the
cooper shop, which he maintained on his farm. He became impatient of
Smith’s extravagant claims and at length offered to put Smith in hot coals as
a test, whereupon the prophet desisted and withdrew, never to return. ...

W.C.

the Smiths’ old frame house “he had found two old cannon balls battered and
rusted lying upon the heavy plate timber on which the rafters rest. For the
life of him he could not explain why the cannon balls were there. The only
reason he could give was that the Smiths had placed them there to bring
them good luck or to keep away evil spirits” {New York Herald, 25 June 1893).

3. Concerning Smith’s walking on water, which is usually assigned to
ColesviUe, see IV.D.5, GEORGE COLLINGTON, SMITH BAKER,
HARRIET MARSH, AND REBECCA NURSE INTERVIEWS WITH
FILEDERICK G. MATHER, JUL 1880.

236

32.

CARLOS Osgood Statement,
CIRCA 1907

“Some Early Mormon History,” Wayne County Journal, 11 July 1907.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Carlos P. Osgood, age forty-three, with his wife, Daisy (b. 1868), of
eleven years, is listed in the 1900 census of Manchester, Ontario County,
New York, as an “Insurance Agent” (1900:632). He was the grandson of
Ezra Pierce, who was interviewed by the Kelleys in 1881 (see III.B.4, EZIC\
PIERCE INTERVIEW, 1881). See also III.J.38, CARLOS OSGOOD
STATEMENT, 1932.

MANCHESTER, July 5. — Since the recent pilgrimage of the Mor¬
mons to “Gold Bible HiU,” two miles north of this village to view the place
where Joseph Smith claimed to have discovered the golden plates upon
which Mormonism was founded, the oldest residents of Manchester have
been recalling incidents connected with the founding of this religious sect,
many of which are of an interesting nature and to the outside world generally
unknown. ...

An amusing incident connected with the digging for those plates was
recently related by C[arlos]. P. Osgood, to whom it was told by his
grandfather, Ezra Pierce, and who is known to be one of the young men of
the early days who had an abundance of courage and was always ready to
play a joke on friends or foe. As the digging for those supposed plates was
usually carried on at night and at that time had been in progress for several
evenings, a huge cave had been made on the side of the hill not far from the
top.

As they were unsuccessful. Smith explained to the men who were doing
the digging that there were evil influences which were keeping them from
finding the plates. As he made those remarks Mr. Pierce and a companion
who had quietly crept up to the side of the cave, dropped a huge black sheep
on the working Mormons, which caused consternation in the party, all
supposing that it was his satanic majesty, and no more searching was done
that night.

Smith told his followers that the blood of a lamb would keep the devil

237

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

away, and it is said that a neighboring farmer lost his bell wether that night,
and a circle was found around the cave in the morning made with the sheep’s
blood.

1. The same story is told in IILJ.30, CHARLES W. BROWN AC¬
COUNT, 1904, with Darius Pierce as the primary instigator of the prank.

238

33.

ELISHA W. VANDERHOOF ACCOUNT, 1907

E[lisha]. W[oodward]. Vanderhoof (1832-?), Historical Sketches of West¬
ern New York (Buffalo, New York: Printed for private distribution by the
Matthews-Northrop Works, 1907), 138-39.

... In September, 1819,^ a trifling and apparently unimportant event
occurred which, however, had much to do in estabHshing the Mormon
Church. This was the discovery of the celebrated Peek Stone. It was
unearthed by the Prophet’s father and elder sons while engaged in dig¬
ging a well near Palmyra for Mr. Clark Chase. It first attracted the at¬
tention of Mr. Chase’s children by the peculiarity of its shape, which
nearly resembled the foot of a young child. When washed it was whit¬
ish, glossy, and opaque in appearance. Joseph, Jr., who was an idle
looker-on at the labors of his father and brethren, at once possessed
himself of this geological oddity, but not without strenuous protest on
the part of the children, who claimed it by right of discovery, and be¬
cause it was found upon their father’s premises. Joseph, however, kept
it, and though frequent demands were made, after it became famous, for
its restoration, it was never returned to the claimants. Very soon it be¬
came noised abroad that by means of this stone the inchoate Prophet
could locate buried treasure and discover the whereabouts of stolen
property. In the latter case he might not have had to look a great way.
People from far and near who had lost valuables consulted Joseph. With
his eyes bandaged and his Peek Stone at the bottom of a tall white hat,
he satisfied all inquirers for a fee of seventy-five cents. My grandfather"
paid that sum to learn what had become of a valuable mare stolen from
his stable, and he was a tolerably shrewd and prosperous Dutchman for
those days. He recovered his beast, which Joe said was somewhere on

1. The first portion of Vanderhoof s account apparently follows III.J.8,
POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 19-20. According to WiUard
Chase, the stone was found in 1822 (III.A.14, WILLAPJD CHASE STATE¬
MENT, CIRCA 11 DEC 1833, 240).

2. If Vanderhoof refers to his paternal grandfather, this is perhaps Jacob
or John Vanderhoof listed in the 1820 census of Farmington, Ontario
County, New York (1820:311).

239

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

the lake shore, and about to be run over to Canada. Anybody could
have told him that, as it was invariably the [p. 138] way a horsethief
would take to dispose of a stolen animal in those days. ...

240

34.

CHARLES F. MILLIKEN FIISTORY, 1911

Charles F. Milliken (1854-?), History of Ontario County, New York, and
Its People (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1911), 415-19.

THE BIRTH OF MOBJVIONISM.

Mormonism, which has become one of our greatest national evils,
originated in this town [Manchester], and in turn, it has given to Manchester
a national renown. Joseph Smith, Jr., the first Mormon prophet and founder
of Mormonism and the Church of Latter Day Saints, was born in Sharon,
Windsor county, Vermont, December 13th [23rd], 1805. He came at an early
age with his father to Palmyra, where they ran a small “cake and beer” shop.
In 1818 they squatted on a piece of land on Stafford street in the northwestern
corner of this town [Manchester], but they vacated this land in 1830 and the
property for many years has been in the possession of the Chapman family,
and was sold by WiUiam Chapman in 1907 to Apostle George A. Smith, of
Salt Lake City, a grandson of the prophet Smith. ^

By their neighbors the Smiths were regarded as a shiftless and most
untrustworthy family. They were visionary and superstitious and were always
digging for hidden treasures. So that Oliver Cowdery,^ a schoolmaster on
Stafford street, had little trouble in enthusing them into the mysteries that
could be unearthed.

Their favorite digging place came to be on the hill since known as the
“Hill of Camorah,” which being interpreted signifies “Mormon Hill,” often
called Gold Bible hill. This hill is located two and one-half miles north of
Manchester village, on the old stage road [Canandaigua Road] between
Canandaigua and Palmyra.

Joe Smith, Jr., possessed even less than ordinary intellect, and among
the boys he was always a butt for their jokes, which have become local
history. ... [p. 415] ...^

1. Taken from IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 12.

2. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

3. Milliken then reproduces III.A.l, MANCHESTER ILESIDENTS
GROUP STATEMENT, 3 NOV 1833; and III.A.IO, PARLEY CHASE

241

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

It was the mother who exercised the larger influence on her son’s life,
and the Smith’s interest and belief in a hidden treasure seems to have been
part of their early training/

In 1819,^ while the Smiths were digging a well near Palmyra, on the
farm of Mr. Clark Chase, ^ a stone of peculiar shape was unearthed. It
resembled in form a child’s foot, and was white, glossy, and opaque in
appearance. Joe kept the stone and by its aid he claimed to see wonderful
things. In a short time his reputation grew and with the stone to his eyes he
claimed to be able to reveal “both things existing and things to come.” This
stone came to be known as the famous Peek stone and is truly called the
“Acorn of the Mormon oak. [p. 416] ...

About the year 1830, Joe Smith and his followers left the town of
Manchester with their unsold bibles and removed to Kirtland, Ohio. ... [p.
418]

STATEMENT, 2 DEC 1833.

4. See in.J.2, ORSAMUS TURNER ACCOUNT, 1851, 213.

5. The date should be 1822 (see III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867, n. 32).

6. On Clark Chase, see III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT,
1867, n. 33.

7. See III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 19.

242

35.

THOMAS L. COOK HISTORY, 1930

Thomas L. Cook, Palmyra and Vicinity (Palmyra, New York: Press of the
Palmyra Courier-Journal, 1930), 219-21, 237-38, 246.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Thomas L. Cook (1838-?) was born in Lyme, Grafton County, New
Hampshire. He moved to Palmyra with his parents in 1844. Keenly interested
in the history of the region, he published a history of Palmyra and Vicinity in
1930. In his introduction. Cook explained his objective: “I have lived in and
round Palmyra for over 85 years, thus giving me an opportunity to become
familiar with both village and country, and when the light of memory is
flashed upon the screen of time, how vividly the scenes of other days are
brought to remembrance. ... Although I have quoted some early history, my
aim has been to write something we do not find in history, something I heard
old people say when I was a boy, what happened when they were young.
The most of this history is from memory and observation. ... In this history
there wiU be a good deal the historian will not care about, but it may interest
some others who might be a friend or relative. Then my aim and object will
be accomplished” (T. Cook 1930, 10).

... Adjoining this farm [of William Dixon] on the south is the Joseph
Smith farm, where Mormonism first originated. In the Autumn of 1816,
Joseph Smith, sr.,^ came from Royalton, Vermont,^ to Palmyra. In this family
were nine children, six boys and three girls. Soon after arriving in Palmyra
he opened a “cake and beer shop.” He continued in this business until 1818,
when they moved to this tract of wild land to occupy it as squatters, as there
was no one who seemed to be looking after it,^ and on the west side of the
road and north of where the barn stands, he built a log cabin that contained
two rooms on the ground floor, with two divisions in the garret. Later an

1. On Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

2. Actually Norwich, Vermont.

3. This follows IIIJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867,
12-13. Cook, however, differs from Tucker in that he states the family
moved to Palmyra in the autumn rather than the summer of 1816.

243

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

addition was put up that was made of slabs and used for a sleeping room/ In
this cabin they made their home for a dozen years/ Finally Mr. Smith
contracted for the land from Lemuel Durfee/ who owned the property and
to him made a small payment on the same, paying the interest on the balance
each year by letting his son, Joseph, work for Mr. Durfee, through harvest.^
In those days it was customary to have whiskey, especially through harvest.
When the country was new, fever and ague was quite prevalent among the
new settlers, and to ward off this malady, nearly every family had a
preparation they called No. 6, that was made of red peppers and other things
that were powerful.

Early one morning, while yet in bed, Joseph contemplated the coming
day was going to be hot, and was fearful they might have fish for dinner as
he had always heard that fish would make a man dry. With all this flittering
before his imagination, and to ward off the coming danger of a sun stroke,
he got out of bed, crept softly down stairs and across the old kitchen into
the pantry, but unfortunately he tapped the wrong bottle and instead of
getting whiskey, he took a good big swig out of No. 6, which nearly strangled

4. Cook evidently refers to the Jennings cabin first occupied by the
Smiths about 1819 (see IILL.2, PALMYRA [NY] HIGHWAY SURVEY,

13 JUN 1820). Since the cabin no longer stood in 1930, Cook apparently
borrowed his description from IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT,
1867, 13. However, because the Jennings cabin is located in Palmyra and the
cabin Tucker described was located in Manchester, there is a possibility that
Cook’s description does not apply to the Jennings cabin (see IILL.2,
PALMYRA [NY] HIGHWAY SURVEY, 13 JUN 1820).

5. From about 1825 to 1829, the Smiths lived in their frame house,
while newly married Hyrum and family occupied the cabin. In April 1829
the Smiths were forced to vacate their home and join Hyrum’s family in the
cabin (see IILL.4, SMITH MANCHESTER [NY] LAND RECORDS,
1820-1830).

6. On Lemuel Durfee (1759-1829), see introduction to III.L.IO, LE¬
MUEL DURFEE ACCOUNT BOOKS, 1827-1829.

7. This statement contains a number of inaccuracies. The Smiths did
not contract for the land with Lemuel Durfee, but rather with the heirs of
Nicholas Evertson, probably in 1820. When the Smiths faced financial diffi¬
culties in December 1825, Lemuel Durfee purchased their land and allowed
the Smiths to remain as renters (see IILL.4, MANCHESTER [NY] LAND
PJECORDS, 1820-1830). Samuel Smith is known to have worked for Dur¬
fee as a means of paying rent on the Manchester property (see III.L.IO, LE¬
MUEL DURFEE ACCOUNT BOOKS, 1827-1829, under 16 April 1827;
see also under August 1827, where it is recorded that Joseph Smith worked
for Durfee on at least one occasion).

244

THOMAS L. COOK HISTORY, 1930

him, and upon finding out his mistake, he rushed outdoors to the well and
down went the bucket for water. Mr. Durfee, hearing the rumpus, got out
of bed to find out the cause of this tumult, and upon looking out of the
window, saw the sainted Joseph strangling and black in the face, trying to
drink water out of the old “oaken bucket that hung in the well.”

The Smiths occupied this tract until 1829, when the new religion was
ushered into existence. Up to this time, but very little had been done to clear
up the land. A short time before leaving the farm, they erected a small frame
for a house on the same site of the present farm house, using the old house
for a bam.^ The new house was never finished by the Smiths. They got their
living by making baskets, birch brooms, maple sugar, maple syrup and
hunting, fishing and trapping.

The Smiths took their departure in 1831. ...

When the Smith family left the farm, it passed into other hands that
were more progressive and prosperous. The forest was cleared away, fields
were fenced off, where nature heretofore had its unmolested sway and in its
season, golden grain nodded in the wind. The unfinished house [p. 219] was
soon made into a substantial farm house. A new and convenient barn was
erected, an orchard was planted and the trail of the squatter was soon lost.^^

In the early [18]50’s the late Morgan Robinson came into possession
of the farm by purchase. In the [18]60’s the late Avery Chapman, a native
of Massachusetts, bought the farm. At his death, his son, William, came into
possession of the farm, and through early training he became one of the best
farmers in Ontario County. While in the Civil War he contracted rheuma¬
tism from which after a time he became unable to carry on the farm any
longer and sold out to W. W. Bean, a Mormon elder, who came from Salt
Lake City. Mr. Chapman moved into the village where he died a few years
later. ...

8. This story is also related in III.J.16, GORDON T. SMITH REMI¬
NISCENCE, CIRCA 1883.

9. Cook relies on III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867,
13. However, Tucker’s statement is probably inaccurate.

10. If the Smiths were ever squatters, it was only briefly since they con¬
tracted for the land shortly after July 1820.

11. Morgan Robinson acquired the property fromjudson R. Hill on
30 March 1855. Robinson sold the farm to Absalom Weeks on 2 May 1859,
who then sold it to Seth T. Chapman on 4 April 1860. Chapman deeded the
farm to William Avery Chapman on 14 July 1881, and on the same day Wil¬
liam leased the farm to Seth. On 10 June 1907 William Avery Chapman sold
the farm to George Albert Smith (these transactions are traced in Porter 1971,
356-59). Willard W. Bean lived on the farm after it was purchased by the

245

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

Returning to Stafford Street: A short distance from the corner, as we
go south, we cross a Httle stream where in early day near the road, a dam
was built across by the late Russell Stoddard,^"^ an early settler, for the purpose
of operating a sawmill. After the mill was completed a neighbor told Mr.
Stoddard that there would not be power enough to run the mill, and he
would furnish the first log and give him the lumber if he would saw it. But
for want of power the mill was never started.

But, however, in all probability, although unconscious of the fact, at
the time the pond was built, yet the Mormons might claim the building of
the pond was directed by a higher power, and for a nobler cause than sawing
logs, for in this little pond the first Mormon was baptized. •••[?• 220] ...

Passing on a little further [continuing south on Stafford Road], at our

LDS church.

12. Russell Stoddard lived on the east side of Stafford Road, three
farms south of the Smiths, and attempted to open a sawmill situated on
Hathaway Brook (T. Cook 1930, 220). In 1867 he was listed as a “retired
farmer” of Manchester (Child 1867, 168). It has been suggested that Russell
Stoddard was the carpenter who attempted to swindle the Smiths out of their
land in 1825 (see Enders 1985, 19; I.B.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845,
51).

13. Several accounts locate the organization of the church in Manches¬
ter (see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, n. 82). Tucker locates
the first baptisms in Manchester (IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867, 59). Joseph Knight said he saw Joseph Smith, Sr., and Mar¬
tin Harris baptized in Manchester on 6 April 1830 (IV. A. 1, JOSEPH
KNIGHT, SR., RJEMINISCENCE, CIRCA 1835-1847). While the exact
location of these baptisms is unknown, the residents of Manchester remem¬
bered baptisms being performed near the Stoddard mill. In 1932 Brigham
Young University professor M. Wilford Poulson interviewed Dr. John R.

Pratt of Manchester, who said “his memory include[d] a story of the place
where the first Mormon baptisms took place. It was near the John Stafford
home about one-fourth mile farther south from where the road turns east off
from Stafford St. to go to Cumorah. It was at a pond near where a turn in
the road is now & where I remember once was a set of posts for a flume [.] It
is at a creek about a mile from the Smith place. This was related by Dr.

[John] Stafford to Dr. Pratt himself” (M. Wilford Poulson, Notebook, Spe¬
cial Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo,
Utah). John Stafford elsewhere reported that he “was present at the first bap¬
tism, when old Granny Smith and SaUy Rockwell were ‘dipped’ and came up
‘white as snow’” {Shortsville Enterprisey 18 March 1904). Ezra Thayre said that
he and Northrop Sweet were baptized in October 1830 “just below the mill”
south of the Smith farm (IILJ.6, EZRA THAYILE REMINISCENCE,

1862).

246

THOMAS L. COOK HISTORY, 1930

left, back from the road on a little knoll, was the old William Stafford^"^
homestead, until a few years ago when it was destroyed by fire. ...

He [William Stafford] was also a neighbor of the Smiths and had a good
opportunity to know something of the wonderful power Joseph possessed,
and he was at one time personally interested in one of Joseph’s prophetic
visions. While passing, mention might be made of a little circumstance that
transpired between him and Joseph. But before doing this we will go back
to a time a little previous to this transaction with Joseph.

In September, 1819,^^ the older Smith and his sons, Alvin^^ and
Hiram, in digging a well (of which the location will be pointed out as
we advance in our journey) threw up a stone of vitreous though opaque
appearance and in form Hke an infant’s foot. This stone was secured by
Joseph and turned to account as a revelator of present and future in the
role of fortune telling. Small amounts were received from the credulous,
and thus the imposter was encouraged to enlarge his field by asserting a
vision of gold and silver, buried in iron chests in the vicinity. The stone
was finally placed in his hat to shade its marvelous brightness when its
services were required. Persisting in his apparitions, there were those who
in the Spring of 1820 contributed to defray the expense of digging for
the buried treasure.

At midnight dupe’s laborers and himself, with lanterns, repaired to the
hiUside east of the Smith house, where following mystic ceremony, digging
began in enjoined silence. Two hours elapsed when just as the money box
was about to be unearthed someone spoke and the treasure vanished. This
was the explanation of the failure, and to this they all agreed.

But Joseph had another vision, assuming to see where vast treasures
lay entombed. Joseph asserted that a “black sheep” was necessary as an
offering upon the ground before the work of digging could begin. ...

14. On William Stafford (c. 1786-1863), see introduction to III. A. 13,
WILLIAM STAFFORD STATEMENT, 8 DEC 1833.

15. Cook foUows IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867,
19. However, WiUard Chase dated the discovery of the stone to 1822 (see
IILA.14, WILLARD CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11 DEC 1833, 240-
41).

16. On Alvin Smith (1798-1823), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 10.

17. On Hymm Smith (1800-44), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 12.

18. This follows IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ILEMINISCENCE,
1867, 21, where Tucker possibly intends the spring after Smith’s procure¬
ment of the Chase stone, that is, the spring of 1823.

247

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

[p. 221]

As we pass on south [on the Canandaigua Road] we come to the
concrete post that marks the line between the towns of Palmyra and
Manchester; also the county line of Wayne and Ontario counties, [p. 237]

Looking to the southwest we can plainly see “Old Sharp,” the hill on
which Joseph Smith sacrificed the sheep, as before mentioned.

After Joseph had found the golden plates on Mormon Hill, Thum
Moroni, his guardian angel, told him to go east of the house and dig a cave.
There he would meet him and reveal to him the hieroglyphics on the golden
plates, and following the command he commenced digging on the east side
of “Old Sharp.” After digging about twenty feet Thum Moroni informed
him it was not holy ground. From here he went to the next hill east, on the
west side of Canandaigua Road, where he again commenced digging. After
he had dug about twenty feet he was again told he was not yet on holy
ground.

He then repaired to the east side of Miner’s Hill, which was at that time
covered with forest, and after digging twenty feet it was made known to him
that this was the accepted spot and to dig twenty feet more, making nearly
forty feet.

After the cave had been dug a door was put at the opening and fastened,
and every evening, just at twilight, for the next three months he visited the
cave, always accompanied by two or more, but always entering the cave
alone.

For several years this cave remained practically intact. After it had
commenced to fall in, Wallace W. Miner, a grandson of Amos Miner, the
owner of the hill at that time, partly restored the old cave.^^ The grandson,

19. Then follows (pp. 221-22) Wallace Miner’s account of William
Stafford’s story of Joseph Smith sacrificing a sheep, which is treated separately
(see IILJ.36, WALLACE MINER REMINISCENCE, 1930).

20. Concerning this cave see IILB.12, LORENZO SAUNDERS IN¬
TERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884, 7-8; and IILB.15, LORENZO SAUNDERS IN¬
TERVIEW, 12 NOV 1884, 8.

21. In 1867 Pomeroy Tucker reported that “[f]rom the lapse of time
and natural causes the cave has been closed for years, very little mark of its
former existence remaining to be seen” (IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867, 49). Manchester resident Ezra Pierce told the Kelleys in
1881 that the cave was still closed (IILB.4, EZBu\ PIERCE INTERVIEW,
1881). Then, in 1884, Samantha Payne said that the cave “can be seen to¬
day. The present owner of the farm, Mr. [Wallace] Miner, dug out the cave,
which had faUen in” (IILJ.19, SAMANTHA PAYNE STATEMENT,

CIRCA 1884).

248

THOMAS L. COOK HISTORY, 1930

who is now over eighty six years of age, owns and occupies the farm, but no
trace of the old Joe Smith cave can be found.^^

“Old Sharp” was just across the town line going south, located on the
Chase farm. Mr. [Clark] Chase was one of the early settlers. As mentioned
before, his log house was about thirty rods south of the town and county
line and on the east side of the [Canandaigua] road or new highway.

The well that supplied the family with water was dug by the Smiths
shortly after they came here. This was the well from which the peep-stone
came, as mentioned before.

This well was kept open until the [18]80’s when it was filled up.^"^ ...

22. A reporter from the New York Herald, who visited the cave with
John H. Gilbert and Orson Saunders in 1893, gave the following account and
description of the site: “It is situated on the eastern brow of Cave Hill. ...

The doorjambs leading into the cave are stiU sound and partly visible, but the
earth has been washed down by storms and the opening to the cave nearly
filled, so that it cannot be entered at present. A few years ago it was dug out,
the earth removed from the door and Orson Saunders, who went in, said that
he found quite a large chamber many feet in extent, with the marks of the
pick plainly visible in the light of his candles. The passageway within the
chamber was eight feet wide and seven feet high. ... The doorjamb is heavy
plank of beech or maple, and the inscriptions, which had evidently been cut
deeply by a sharp knife, were partially worn away. ... It is quite a severe climb
to reach the mouth of the cave” {New York Herald, 25 June 1893). The cave
remained closed until April 1974, when Andrew H. Kommer, then the
owner of the property, cleared the cave’s opening with a bulldozer. At that
time the cave was described as “about six feet high at the largest point in the
middle and 10-12 feet long,” and “carved into a rock-hard clay hillside. ...

The walls and ceiling of the cave appear to have been dug or picked by
hand” {Palmyra Courier-Journal, 1 May 1974; 2ind Rochester Times-Union, 25
April 1974). Today the entrance of the cave is again closed and overgrown
with foliage.

23. See L. Cook 1930, 226.

24. The well was apparently still open when visited by a reporter from
the New York Herald in 1893, who gave the following description: “The well
was dug about sixty-five years ago near the Chase farm house. The home¬
stead has disappeared. The garden and the yard in front of the house have
been plowed up. ... But the well remains and it was found nearby full of
water in a field of corn. ... A cover of ancient, weatherbeaten boards fastened
with cleats and rusty nails covered the well and was held in place by a fence
rail the Major [John H. Gilbert] and his friend Orson Saunders estimated was
at least sixty years old. We uncovered the well and found it heavily walled
with large boulders which had remained undisturbed since the days they were
laid in place by Joe Smith’s father and brothers. There seems to be more mois-

249

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

[p. 238] ...

Our next farm on the south [on the Canandaigua Road] is the Randall
Robinson homestead, more familiarly known as the Mormon Hill farm. This
old homestead standing back from the road, almost beneath the shadow of
Mormon Hill that almost hides it from view, is where Mr. Robinson came
and settled in early days and was an old pioneer.

Mormon Hill of Joseph Smith fame is so well known all over the United
States and parts of Europe that it needs no comment.

At Mr. Robinson’s death the farm went to his son, Anson Robinson.
In the [18]70’s the late Admiral William T. Sampson acquired the property
by purchase and it was carried on by his brother George Sampson for several
years. After the Admiral’s death the farm came into the hands of Pliny T.
Sexton. ... [p. 246]

ture in the soil now than in Smith’s day, for it is only five or six feet down to
the water. It looked dark and brackish and no doubt many a reptile has taken
a bath in its depths” {New York Herald ^ 25 June 1893).

250

36.

WALLACE MINER PJEMINISCENCE, 1930

Thomas L. Cook, Palmyra and Vicinity (Palmyra, New York: Press of the
Palmyra Courier-Journal, 1930), 222.

EDITORIAL NOTE

The following is a secondhand account of a conversation between
William Stafford and Wallace Miner sometime before Stafford’s death on 9
January 1863, wherein Stafford reiterated the portion of his 1833 statement
to Hurlbut dealing with the Smiths surreptitiously procuring one of his sheep
(see III.A.13, WILLIAM STAFFORD STATEMENT, 8 DEC 1833, 239).
Wallace W. Miner (1843-?), son of Chauncey Miner and grandson of Amos
Miner, was born in Palmyra, New York. In the 1870s, he married Beal
Hammond. After her death, he married Margaret Cavanough, who died a
short time later. Miner spent his last years alone, living on the land on which
was located the cave that had been dug under Joseph Smith’s direction in
the early 1820s (T. Cook 1930, 46, 221, 238, 241-42).

Wallace Miner’s visit to Salt Lake City in 1915 was noticed by the
editors of the Deseret Evening News: “W. W. Miner of Palmyra, N.Y., and
Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Miner of Rochester, N.Y. are visitors in the city. This
morning they called at the office of the First Presidency. They are being
shown about the city by Elder George Albert Smith of the Council of the
Twelve, who has known the family for many years, back in their eastern
home. ... ‘As a boy,’ said Mr. [Wallace] Miner, ‘I heard aU these stories about
Joseph Smith. In our neighborhood he was considered an eccentric character
because he did different things from other people. At the same time I never
heard anything bad of his character, but much of interest. He was said never
to have been known to smile, but always wore a most serious expression.
Stories are told in the town of the manuscript of the Book of Mormon being
taken by the prophet to John Gilbert, head printer of [Egbert B.] Grandin”
{Deseret Evening News, 10 November 1915).

After meeting Miner in 1927, BXDS president Frederick M. Smith
wrote of him: “[He] seems to think he is ‘authority’ on early Palmyra history.
He regaled us right then and there with a run of years of the sheep stealing
treasure digging, holy-cave making activities of ‘Joe’ Smith, which are
amusing though ad nauseaml Bah! how long will these old women’s yarns
pass for ‘history’” {Saints' Herald 74 [27 July 1927]: 858).

251

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

Still, Miner’s testimony was sought out on at least two occasions. The
Kelleys wrote Wallace Miner’s name down in their notebook in March 1881,
probably in relation to the sheep story, but apparently did not have an
opportunity to visit him. In 1930 Miner related WiUiam Stafford’s story to
Palmyra historian Thomas L. Cook, who stated that since “I have been
personally and intimately acquainted with Mr. Miner for over eighty years,
I believe this [Miner’s account] to be true” (T. Cook 1930, 221). Two years
later Miner related the same story to Brigham Young University professor
M. Wilford Poulson (see III.J.37, WALLACE MINER STATEMENT,
1932).

“The location for this sacrifice was on the second hill east of the Smith
house, at that time on the Chase farm. This hiU was called by the neighbors,
‘Old Sharp’^ and by divine command he was to go to the barnyard ofWilliam
Stafford^ and take from the fold a black sheep without leave or license, and
lead it to the place where it was to be sacrificed. That night the parties met
at the appointed hour, at the chosen spot with lanterns. Joseph traced a circle
within which the wether was placed and his throat cut; the blood saturated
the ground. Silently and solemnly, but with vigor, excavation began.

“Three hours of futile labor had passed, when it was discovered that
the older Smith, assisted by one of his boys, had taken the sheep quietly away,
thus giving the Smith family a stock of fat mutton for family use.

“The next day Joseph went to Mr. Stafford and said to him: ‘I suppose
you have missed your black wether. God owns all the cattle and sheep on
the hills and commanded me to come and take that wether. I am willing to
pay for the sheep. I have no money, but I will work for you until you are
satisfied you are paid.’

“Joseph could make good sap buckets and Mr. Stafford needed a few
more so he told Joseph he could make him sap buckets enough to pay for
the sheep, which he did to the satisfaction of Mr. Stafford.^

1. Cook locates the hill on the west side of the Canandaigua Road,
just southwest of the Palmyra/Manchester township line (see IILJ.35,
THOMAS L. COOK HISTORY, 1930, 222, 237-38).

2. On William Stafford (c. 1786-1863), see introduction to IILA.13,
WILLIAM STAFFORD STATEMENT, 8 DEC 1833.

3. Following his 1907 interview with Manchester, New York, resident
Jason Estey, George Edward Anderson recorded in his diary: “Has cedar tub
said to have been made by Joseph Smith Jr. before he was twenty-one years
or when he was a big boy or minor. Made for Mrs. Balinda White
Sa[u]nders, wife of Orlando Sa[u]nders, one of Mr. Smith’s near neighbors;

252

WALLACE MINER REMINISCENCE, 1930

“In regard to the sheep, who knows but what there was an under¬
standing between Joseph and his father, that he was to come for the carcass
after Joseph had sacrificed the blood of the sheep, and if Joseph paid for the
sheep, why was not the sheep his, and who had a better right than he and
his family? This matter we will leave for philosophers to decide upon.”

and Mr. Estey took it after the death of [the] old people. Lived with them
nine and one-half years and knew them well for about thirty years” (Diary,
171, Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum, Salt Lake City, Utah, cited in
Holzapfel, Cottle, and Stoddard 1995, 181).

253

37.

WALLACE MINER STATEMENT, 1932

M. Wilford Poulson, “Notebook containing statements made by residents
of Palmyra, N.Y., Manchester, N.Y., and other areas 1932, [21-22], M.
Wilford Poulson Collection, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Brigham Young University professor M. Wilford Poulson (1884-
1969), a collector and avid student of Mormon history, traveled to the
Palmyra/Manchester area in 1932 and interviewed Wallace Miner,^ keeping
notes of his interview with Miner in his notebook. Although undated.
Miner’s statement is preceded in Poulson’s notebook by Poulson’s notes
“From Willard Bean’s Scrap Book / Copied at Palmyra, N.Y. Aug. 25,
1932.” Poulson recorded Miner’s statement in his notebook and had the
aged Miner sign his name.

Wallace Miner 93 yrs. [years] of age born about a mile south of here. ^

Knew a great many who knew J[oseph]. S[mith]. Staffords, Stoddards,
Parkers, Dur=feys, Andersons etc. I used to go over swimming over near
where the Smith’s lives — I once asked asked [William] Stafford^ if Smith did
steal a Smith [sheep] from him. He said no not exactly. He said he did miss
a black sheep but soon Joseph came & admitted he took it for sacrifice but
he was willing to work for it. He made wooden sap buckets to fuUy pay for
it. In the early days we didn’t here [hear] so much that was disreputable about
the Smiths.

I was in S[alt]. L[ake]. C[ity]. in 1815 [1915]"^ andJ[oseph]. F. S[mith].^

1. On Wallace W. Miner (1843-?), see introduction to III.J.36, WAL¬
LACE MINER REMINISCENCE, 1930.

2. At the time of the interview. Miner lived on Manchester Lot 2,
near the corner of Canandaigua Road and Miner Road.

3. On William Stafford (c. 1786-1863), see introduction to III. A. 13,
WILLIAM STAFFORD STATEMENT, 8 DEC 1833.

4. Miner’s visit to Salt Lake City was noted in the Deseret Evening
NeivSj 10 November 1915 (see introduction to IILJ.36, WALLACE MINER
REMINISCENCE, 1930).

5. On Joseph F. Smith (1838-1918), see introduction to VLA.7,
DAVID WHITMER INTERVIEW WITH ORSON PRATT AND

254

WALLACE MINER STATEMENT, 1932

said he couldn’t believe J[oseph]. S[mith]. went around digging in the earth.
But I [p. 21] know that he did but this isn’t against Smith. He dug a 40 ft.
[foot] cave right on this vary farm.^ He used [to] live near the village. He
dug in about 20 ft. [feet] and the angel told him this was not holy ground,
but to move south.

Martin Harris^ stayed at this home when I was about 13 yrs. [years] of
age [c. 1856] and 1 used to go over to the diggings about 100 rods or a little
less S[outh]. E[ast]. of this house. It is near a clump of bushes. Martin Harris
regarded it as fully as sacred as the Mormon Hill diggings.^

They used to say mean things about Smith but 1 think they were a good
family. Mrs. [Lucy] Smith^ was told in a dream she would give birth to a son
who would be a great leader.

I once made a map for George Albert Smith^^ showing the location of
houses and farms around here. This he has framed Sc is in the church archives.
1 did this about 1910 or 1912, 1 worked on it about two months.

The early baptisms of the church were just west of the Smith barn
where they darned of[f| the creek.

JOSEPH F. SMITH, 7-8 SEP 1878.

6. This cave is mentioned in several sources (see, e.g., I11.B.12,
LOILENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884, 7-8).

7. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

8. Miner had similarly told George Edward Anderson in 1907: “Mar¬
tin Harris visited here when Mr. Miner was a boy about twelve or thirteen
years. ‘Went on the hill (cave) a number of times with Martin Harris. He al¬
ways removed his hat on the hill. Said it was ‘this is holy ground, my boy.’

God came here. This is like Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion. At one time, he prayed
on the hill, earnestly, for the welfare of the Mormon people ...’” (Diary, 172,
Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum, Salt Lake City, Utah, Holzapfel, Cot¬
tle, and Stoddard 1995, 183, 186).

9. On Lucy Smith (1775-1856), see “Introduction to Lucy Smith Col¬
lection.”

10. Speaking of Lucy Smith, Orsamus Turner said in 1851 that “the in¬
cipient hints, the first givings out that a Prophet was to spring from her hum¬
ble household, came from her” (IILJ.2, ORSAMUS TURNER AC¬
COUNT, 1851, 213).

11. George Albert Smith (1870-1951), son of John Henry Smith, was
born in Salt Lake City, Utah. He became an apostle in 1903, then eighth
president of the LDS church in 1945 (Jenson 1971, 3:776-778; Van Wagoner
and Walker 1982, 276-81).

12. Baptisms may have also been performed in the same creek a few
miles south (see IILJ.35, THOMAS L. COOK HISTORY, 1930, 220).

255

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

Smith only had only a common school education but I suppose [Sidney]
Rigdon^^ was more academic.

Mr. [Thomas L.j Cook^"^ who wrote a Palmyra Hist[ory]. was a very
dear friend of mine. I helped him with his history. He had a wonderful
memory and was about five years older than I was.

When I first remember Palmyra it was practically as big a place as it is
to-day.

[s] W Miner^^

13. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to I.A.13, SID¬
NEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

14. On Thomas L. Cook (1838-?), see introduction to III.J.35,
THOMAS L. COOK HISTORY, 1930.

15. Miner’s almost illegible signature appears at the top of page 22.

256

38.

CARLOS Osgood statement, 1932

M. Wilford Poulson, “Notebook containing statements made by residents
of Palmyra, N.Y., Manchester, N.Y., and other areas 1932, [17-19], M.
Wilford Poulson Collection, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Carlos Osgood^ of Manchester, New York, was interviewed in 1932
by M. Wilford Poulson (1884-1969), a Brigham Young University professor
of psychology. The statement, which is found in Poulson’s notebook, was
written by Poulson and signed by Osgood. Although undated, the Osgood
item is preceded by Poulson’s notes “From Willard Bean’s Scrap Book /
Copied at Palmyra, N.Y. Aug. 25, 1932.” Poulson was led to interview
Osgood perhaps because Dr. John R. Pratt of Manchester had told him that
“Carlos Osgood who lives at the telephone office is much in=terested in
Manchester history” (p. [16]). Prior to his interview with Poulson, Osgood
had made statements about Joseph Smith’s treasure searching that were
published in the Wayne County Journal in 1907 (see IH.J.32, CARLOS
OSGOOD STATEMENT, CIRCA 1907).

Carlos Osgood, Manchester, N.Y.

Says his father was slightly younger than the prophet Joseph Smith

Says he has lived long enough so he wouldn’t say anything was
impossible. Strange things have happened.

Says his father says there was nothing esp[ecially]. startling about the
Prophet — He worked occassional [y] at digging wells & used to carry a stone
in his hat.

My Uncle Derious Pierce^ who Uved here while they were digging for
the plates. He says they used to sacrifice a black sheep at mid=night & he
says the Smith family lived on mutton for a no. [number] of days after. This
may just be a sheep story I don’t know.^

1. On Carlos Osgood, see introduction to III.J.32, CARLOS OS-
GOOD STATEMENT, CIRCA 1907.

2. On Darius Pierce, see IILD.2, SYLVIA WALKER STATEMENT,
20 MAR 1885, n. 12.

3. Compare IILJ.30, CHARLES W. BROWN ACCOUNT, 1904.

257

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

No doubt many exaggerated and colored stories have come down and
it is hard to pick out the gen=uine from the other.

I have known many who have known the Prophet but they’re all gone.

I wrote an article once about Diet, [district] no. [number] 11 of
Manchester"^ & I said then that I didn’t know whether or not Joseph Smith
went to school there but I found out later that he did [p. 17] attend school
there. I found this thru [through] Ezra G. Smith^ of El Paso, Tex[as]. His
uncle Moses C. Smith^ attended with the Prophet & once they had an
altercation. It ended in a fight. It was probably just a boy’s scrap. Ezra lives
at 3030 Memphis St. in EL Paso.

The Prophet was very well known here abouts. Father once says Joseph
was once working in a harvest field for one Russell Stoddard.^ It was a very
hot day & Joseph had on an overcoat all buttoned up. They asked him why.
He said to keep the heat out. I’ve heard Father till [tell] that a good many
times.

My grandfather Pierce^ said they were putting up the frame of a barn
and my grandfather[,] Ezra Smith & Joseph Smith were there — my grandfa¬
ther was a young giant — about 16 or 18 yrs [years] old. The Prophet was
some years older. Like most pioneer gatherings of that nature while the
crowd were gathering they endulged in wrestling & feats of strength and my
grandfather & the Prophet pulled the stick so they sat on the ground & put
their feet together[,] took hold of the stick & tried to find out which one
could puU the other up. and grandfather told me. Says Joe was quite a good
solid boy [p. 18] but I just gave him one good twitch and Joe went clean
over my head. My grandfather was tremendously strong. He was a powerful
man.

[s] Carlos P. Osgood

4. According to early maps of Manchester, the Smiths’ former resi¬
dence was included in school district 1 1 (Ontario County Historical Society,
Canandaigua, New York).

5. This person remains unidentified.

6. On Moses C. Smith, see III.A.l, MANCHESTER RESIDENTS
GROUP STATEMENT, 3 NOV 1833, n. 9.

7. On RusseU Stoddard, see LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845,
n. 107; IILL.4, SMITH MANCHESTER (NY) LAND RJECORDS, 1820-
1830, n. 4.

8. Ezra Pierce, who mentioned pulling sticks with Smith when inter¬
viewed by the KeUeys in 1881 (see IILB.4, EZRA PIERCE INTERVIEW,
1881).

258

39.

MITCHELL BRONK ACCOUNT, 1948

Mitchell Bronk, “The Baptist Church at Manchester,” The Chronicle: A
Baptist Historical Quarterly 11 (January 1948): 23-24.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Mitchell Bronk (1862-1950), son of Abraham Bronk, was born in
Manchester, New York. His mother, Cynthia Brewster, was a granddaughter
of Nathan Pierce, Sr. After graduating from the University of Rochester in
1886, Bronk attended New York City’s Union Theological Seminary. He
was the author of several books and numerous articles on the early history
of Manchester. According to one source, “Rev. Mitchell Bronk has contrib¬
uted more history and facts about old Manchester than any other one person”
(Dubler 1954, 61-62). In the following account, which is partly based on his
memory of conversations with his grandfather and other old Manchester
townsmen, Bronk describes some of the Smiths’ associations in Manchester.

... The Antimasonry disturbance was not yet over when the church had
to stand by and witness the birth of a new religion, or pseudo-reHgion.
Writers on Mormonism have paid too much at[p. 23]tention to Palmyra and
not enough to Manchester in connection with Joe Smith — my old townsmen
never dignified him with “Joseph!” But Gold Bible Hill (Cumorah, for¬
sooth!) is in Manchester, not Palmyra, and the Smith family lived in our
town. They traded at Manchester and ShortsviUe. Joe’s amanuensis, Oliver
Cowdery, had taught the Manchester school. What more concerns us here,
however, is the fact that Joe occasionally attended the stone church^;
especially the revivals, sitting with the crowd — the “sinners” — up in the
gallery. Not a little of Mormon theology accords with the preaching of Elder
[Anson] Shay.^ It is significant that immersion became the form of baptism
practiced by the Saints. It should be pointed out that in the eighteen twenties
the Manchester area was experiencing an unusual amount of religious

1. The First Baptist Church of Manchester was founded on 13 Febru¬
ary 1797 (Manchester Baptist Church File, Ontario County Historical Soci¬
ety, Canandaigua, New York).

2. Anson Shay was minister of the First Baptist Church of Manchester
from 1804 to 1828 (Dubler 1954, 47).

259

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

excitement — excitable religion.

The newfangled religion created little disturbance in the church. In fact
the people of the town didn’t take Joe seriously; or didn’t know what to
make of his revelations. It did, however, cause religious confusion and
unsettlement among the religious ignorant and erratic. There was a feeling
of Good Riddance when the hegira took place, and some of us natives of
Manchester have always been ashamed that Manchester gave Mormonism
to the world. ...

260

40.

PARSHALL TERRY FAMILY HISTORY, 1956

Mr. and Mrs. Terry Lund, comp., Parshall Terry Family History (N.p.: N.p.,
1956), 31.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Parshall and Hannah Terry were among the early settlers of Palmyra,
New York. Seven of their thirteen children were born at Palmyra (spanning
1803-17). The Lunds report the following family tradition: “The story goes
that when the Parshall Terry family were living in East Palmyra, New York,
their son Jacob was a school associate and friend of young Joseph Smith, they
being the same age” (p. 31).

Jacob E., the Terrys’ second child, was born in Palmyra on 4 July 1805.
The event described occurred prior to the family’s removal from Palmyra,
which, according to the Lunds, happened “about the year 1818” (ibid.). It
certainly occurred before the birth of Jane Terry on 21 May 1819 at St. Louis,
Lincoln County, Canada. Thus it is possible for Jacob E. Terry to have
attended school with Joseph Smith either in the winter of 1816-17 or
1817-18.

In their compilation, the Lunds also include the statement of Elizabeth
Terry Heward, Jacob’s sister, who was born on 17 November 1814: “My
parents moved from Palmyra to the town of Sheldon, Genesee County, New
York, when I was two years old [c. 1817], and when I was four years old [c.
1819] they moved to Upper Canada. We lived in several different places near
little York, (since called T[o]ronto) till the 2nd day of July, 1822, we moved
to the Township of Albion, Home District Upper Canada” (p. 66; date of
this statement unknown). If Elizabeth’s recollection is to be accepted, the
Terry family moved some time after the birth of her brother David in Palmyra
on 17 August 1817 and before her third birthday on 17 November 1817.
This would indicate that Joseph Smith attended school immediately after his
arrival at Palmyra sometime during the winter of 1816-17.^

... the story goes that when the Parshall Terry family were living in East

1. There is a Parshall Terry listed in the Palmyra Highway Tax records
for Road District 27 for the years 1817, 1819, 1820 and 1822. However, this
would conflict with an 1817 removal to Canada.

261

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

Palmyra, New York, their son Jacob was a school associate and friend of
young Joseph Smith, they being the same age. ...

262

41.

PALMYRA RESIDENT P^MINISCENCE,
NO DATE

“Concerningjoseph Smith,” no date, typed copy. Palmyra King’s Daughters
Free Library, Palmyra, New York.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Internal evidence indicates that this statement was probably written in
the early twentieth century, following the elections of LDS general church
authorities Brigham H. Roberts to the U.S. House of Representatives in
1898 and Reed Smoot to the U.S. Senate in 1903 and after the death of
Hiram Scutt, a resident of Port Gibson, Wayne County, New York, in 1907.

Nearly fifty years ago^ it was my fortune to reside in the village of Port
Gibson [Wayne County, New York] in the extreme northern part of the
county, about a mile southwest of the village there were the crumbling
foundations of what had once been a dwelling. I was informed on inquiry,
that it had been the home of a man named Smith,^ who had resided there
with his family and that he and his boys had worked among the farmers in
the vicinity for a livliehood [livelihood], but they had removed years before
to Palmyra. While living there his son, Joseph claimed to dig up the plates
on what has since been known as Mormon Hill, a few miles north of the
village of Manchester, from which he he pretended to translate and compile
his Book of Mormon. I knew personally many older people who remem¬
bered Joseph Smith as a boy working among the farmers and also later when
he went among them trying to obtain subscriptions to his book. I have this
on the authority of the late Capt. Hiram ScutP who remembered the

1. This would have been in the 1850s or later.

2. The claim that the Smiths lived in Port Gibson prior to locating in
Palmyra is extremely doubtful. Perhaps some residents confused Joseph
Smith, Sr., with another Smith.

3. Hiram Scutt (1823/25-1907) was born at Port Gibson, Ontario
County, in 1823 or 1825. He was a captain in the Civil War, and was
wounded in 1864. He was a delegate to the first National convention at Phila¬
delphia, and served two terms as state assemblyman (Sanford D. Van Alstine
genealogical card files, Palmyra King’s Daughters Free Library, Palmyra, New

263

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

circum=stances perfectly. The Mormon society was formed in Palmyra and
the late John Stacy"^ and his wife Joined them and on their removal to
Kirtland, Ohio they accompanied them and remained until the Mormons
were forced to move further west, when they returned to their old home
where they ended their days. I received this information from Mr. Stacy
himself. Today, the Mormon church dominates almost the entire western
country and its influence is felt even in the Congress and Senate.

York).

4. Perhaps John B. Stacy, a member of the Free Methodist Church of
Alton, mentioned in McIntosh 1877, 173.

264

42.

MRS. PALMER REMINISCENCE,
NO DATE

“Stories from the Notebook of Martha Cox, Grandmother of Fern Cox
Anderson,” LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Martha Cragun Cox (1852-1932) recounts the statement of a Mrs.
Palmer, who grew up on a farm near the Smiths in Manchester, New York.
Cox was born in Salt Lake City, married LDS bishop Isaiah Cox in 1869,
and taught school in Overton and Panaca, Nevada. After the death of her
husband, she lived in Mexico. Returning to Utah in the 1920s, Cox was
probably interviewed by her granddaughter Fern Cox Anderson (Bitton
1977, 77; Jenson 1971, 3:55; Martha Cragun Cox, “Biographical Record,”
St. George Public Library, St. George, Utah).

The notebook of Martha Cox introduces the reminiscence of Mrs.
Palmer, whose personal history remains largely unknown, as follows: “The
spirit of the Lord remained with Joseph Smith from the time at which he
received his first vision. Mrs. Palmer, a lady advanced in years, came to Utah
with her daughter who was a teacher in the Presbyterian schools of our State.
The daughter taught in Monroe, Sevier Co[unty], died there and is buried
in the Monroe Cemetery.”

Martha Cox noted in her biographical record under 18 September
1929: “I separated the little stories of the prophet I have gathered from early
years and wrote them in a mem[o] book and gave them to Donnetta Smith
Kesler, dau[ghter]. of Pres [ident]. Joseph F. Smith. She seemed very pleased
to get the little book. They are little incidents that have never been published.
Stories told by Jesse W. Crosby, Allen J. Stout, Joseph I Earl, Aunt Esther
Pulsipher, Margaret Burgess, Mrs. Palmer, a Presbyterian lady whose family
lived near the Smiths’ in New York” (typescript, 216, Utah Historical
Society, Salt Lake City, Utah). A nearly identical copy can be found in
LaFayette C. Lee, Notebook (n.d.), photocopies located at LDS Church
Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah; and Special Collections, Harold B. Lee
Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

Mrs. Palmer’s father, according to a story told by her, owned a farm

265

MISCELLANEOUS LATE SOURCES

near to that of the Smith family in New York. Her parents were friends of
the Smith family, which, she testified was one of the best in that locality —
honest, religious and industrious, but poor. The father of the family, she said,
was above average in intelligence. She had heard her parents say he bore the
appearance of having descended from royalty. Mrs. Smith was called
“Mother Smith” by many. Children loved to go to her home.

Mrs. Palmer said her father loved young Joseph Smith and often hired
him to work with his boys. She was about six years old, she said, when he
first came to their home. She remembered going into the field on an
afternoon to play in the corn rows while her brother worked. When evening
came she was too tired to walk home and cried because her brothers refused
to carry her. Joseph lifted her to his shoulder and, with his arm thrown across
her feet to steady her and her arm about his neck, he carried her to their
home.

She remembered the excitement stirred up among the people over the
boy’s first vision,^ and of hearing her father content [contend] that it was
only the sweet dream of a pure minded boy.

She stated that one of their church leaders came to her father to
remonstrate against his allowing such close friendship between his family and
the “Smith boy”, as he called him. Her father, she said, defended his own
position by saying that the boy was the best help he had ever found. He told
the churchman that he always fixed the time of hoeing his large field to that
when he could secure the services of Joseph Smith, because of the influence
that boy had over the wild boys of the neighborhood, and explained that
when these boys worked by themselves, much time would be spent in
arguing and quarreling, which often ended in a ring fight.

But when Joseph Smith worked with them, the work went steadily
forward and he got the full worth of the wages he paid.

She remembered the churchman saying in a very solemn and impressive
tone, that the very influence the boy carried was the danger they feared for
the coming generation; that not only the young men, but all who came in
contact with him would follow him, and he must be put down.

1 . It is unclear if this is a reference to what has come to be known as
Joseph Smith’s “first vision” of 1820, absent from early and contemporary ac¬
counts, or to the first appearance of the angelic messenger on 21/22 Septem¬
ber 1823, subsequently identified as “Moroni.” The latter is most likely. It
must also be remembered that Palmer’s account is thirdhand and filtered
through a traditional Mormon mind.

266

MRS. PALMER REMINISCENCE, NO DATE

Not until Joseph had a second vision^ and began to write a book which
drew many of the best and brightest people of the churches away from them,
did her parents come to a realization of the fact that their friend, the
churchman, had told them the truth. Then her family cut off their friendship
for all the Smiths, for all the family followed Joseph. Even the father,
intelligent man that he was, could not discern the evil he was helping to
promote.

Her parents then lent all the aid they could in helping to crush Joseph
Smith; but it was too late. He had run his course too long. He could not be
put down.

Mrs. Palmer recognized the picture of Joseph Smith placed among
other pictures as a test, and said of him that there was never a truer, purer,
nobler boy than he before he was led away by superstition.

2. This “second vision” apparently refers to Joseph Smith’s obtaining
the plates on 22 September 1827.

267

om^resi

Rochester (ny) Gem, 15 may 1830

“Imposition and Blasphemy!! — Money Diggers, &c.,” Rochester (NY) Gem
2 (15 May 1830): 15.

EDITORIAL NOTE

This early report compares the coming forth of the Book of Mormon
with the Rochester money diggers.

Some months ago a noise was made among the credulous of the earth,
respecting a wonderful production said to have been found as follows. An
ignoramus near Palmyra, Wayne county, pretended he had found some
“Gold Plates,” as he is pleased to call them, upon which is said to be engraved
characters of marvellous and misunderstandable import, which he, but no
other mortal could divine. These characters he has translated into the English
language, and lo! they appear to be no other than the mysticisms of an
unrevealed Bible! A person [Martin Harris] more credulous or more cunning,
than him who found the plates, ordered the translation thereof, mortgaged
his farm, sold all he had, and appropriated it to the printing and binding of
several thousand copies of this pearl, which is emphatically of great price! The
book comes before the public under the general title of the “Book of
Mormon,” arranged under different heads, something as follows. The book
of Mormon — containing the books of Nephi, Nimshi,^ Pukei,^ and Buck¬
eye^ — and contains some four of five hundred pages. It comes out under the
‘testimony of three witnesses,’ and of ‘six witnesses, who say they ‘have
seen and hefted the plates,’ that ‘they have the appearance of gold,’ and that
divers and strange characters are ‘imprinted on them.’ — The author, who

1. Nimshi, an early American term, means “a fool, a silly person, a nit¬
wit” (M. Mathews 1951, 2:1133). Cf 1 Kings 19:16.

2. Puke, an early American term, means “a poor puny, unhealthy-
looking person” (M. Mathews 1951, 2:1326). See also III.E.3, PALMYRA
REFLECTOR, 1829-1831, under 12 June 1830.

3. Buckeye is an early American nickname for a “backwoodsman” and
carries a connotation of “inferiority” (M. Mathews 1951, 1:202).

4. See III.L.13, TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES, JUN 1829.

271

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

has the “copy-right secured according to law,”^ says, ‘that he was com¬
manded of the Lord in a dream,’ to go and find, and that he went and found.
At one time it was said that he was commanded of the Lord not to show the
plates, on pain of instant death — but it seems he has shown them to the said
witnesses, and yet is alive! At another time it is said that none could see them
but he who was commanded; — that though they should lie in the middle of
the street beneath the broad glare of a meridian sun, in the presence of
hundreds, yet no eye but his could see them! The translator, if we take his
word for it, has been directed by an angel in this business, for the salvation
and edification of the world! It partakes largely of Salem Witchcraft-ism, and
Jemima Wilkinson-ism, and is in point of blasphemy and imposition, the
very summit. But it is before the public, and can be had for money, at various
places.

This story brings to our mind one of similar nature once played off
upon the inhabitants of Rochester and its vicinity, near the close of the last
war [of 1812]. During the war, we were subject to many inconveniences at
this place, and were in constant danger of attack from the enemy. Those who
lived here at that time, can well remember the frequent attempts made by
the enemy to land at the mouth of the Genesee, at which point our army
had deposited heavy stores [stones?]. Our village was then young, and the
abodes of men were ‘few, and far between.’ If we remember aright, it was
in the year 1815, that a family of Smiths moved into these parts, and took
up their abode in a miserable hut on the east bank of the river, now near the
late David K. Carter’s tavern. They had a wonderful son, of about 18 years
of age, who, on a certain day, as they said, while in the road, discovered a
round stone of the size of a man’s fist, the which when he first saw it,
presented to him on the one side, all the dazzling splendor of the sun in full
blaze — and on the other, the clearness of the moon. He fell down insensible
at the sight, and while in the trance produced by the sudden and awful
discovery, it was communicated to him that he was to become an oracle —
and the keys of mystery were put into his hands, and he saw the unsealing
of the book of fate. He told his tale for money. Numbers flocked to him to
test his skill, and the first question among a certain class was, if there was any
of [Captain William] Kidd’s money hid in these parts in the earth. The oracle,
after adjusting the stone in his hat, and looking in upon it sometime,
pronounced that there was. The question of where, being decided upon,
there forthwith emerged a set, armed with “pick-axe, hoe and spade,” out

5. See IILL.12, BOOK OF MOBJVION COPYRIGHT, 11 JUN

1829.

272

ROCHESTER (NY) GEM, 15 MAY 1830

into the mountains, to dislodge the treasure. We shall mention but one man
of the money-diggers. His name was Northrop. He was a man so unlike
anything of refined human kind, that he might well be called a demi-devil
sent forth upon the world to baffle the elements of despair, and wrestle with
fate. As you will suppose, he was an enemy to all fear. Northrop and his men
sallied out upon the hills east of the river, and commenced digging — the
night was chosen for operation — already had two nights been spent in
digging, and the third commenced upon, when Northrop with his pick-axe
struck the chest! The effect was powerful, and contrary to an explicit rule
laid down by himself he exclaimed, “d — n me. I’ve found it!”

The charm was broken! — the scream of demons, — the chattering of
spirits — and hissing of serpents rent the air, and the treasure moved! The
oracle was again consulted, who said that it had removed to the Deep
Hollow. There, a similar accident happened — and again it was removed to
a hill near the village of Penfield, where, it was pretended the undertakers
obtained the treasure.

About this time the enemy’s fleet appeared off the mouth of the
Genesee, and an attack at that point, was expected — this produced a general
alarm. — There are in all communities, a certain class, who do not take the
trouble, or are not capable of thinking for themselves, and who, in cases of
alarm, are ready to construe every thing mysterious or uncommon into
omens of awful purport. This class flocked to the oracle. He predicted that
the enemy would make an attack; and that blood must flow. — The story
flew, and seemed to carry with it a desolating influence — some moved away
into other parts, and others were trembling under a full belief of the
prediction. At this time a justice of the peace of the place visited the oracle,
and warned him to leave the country. He gravely told the magistrate that
any one who opposed him would receive judgements upon his head, and
that he who should take away the inspired stone from him, would suffer
immediate death! The magistrate, indignant at the fellow’s impudence,
demanded the stone, and ground it to powder on a rock nearby — he then
departed promising the family further notice.

The result was the Smiths were missing — the enemy did not land — the
money-diggers joined in the general execration, and declared that they had
had their labor for their pains — and all turned out to be a hoax! Now in
reference to the two stories, “put that to that, and they are noble pair of
brothers.”

273

WAYNE COUNTY (PA) INQUIRER,
CIRCA MAY 1830

Wayne County (PA) Inquirer, circa May 1830, as reprinted in Cincinnati
Advertiser and Ohio Phoenix 8 (2 June 1830): 1.

EDITORIAL NOTE

The Wayne County Inquirer W2is published in Bethany, Pennsylvania, in
the next county east of Susquehanna County. Because of the incomplete files
of the Inquirer, I have been unable to locate an original printing of this item.
The following reprint in the Cincinnati Advertiser and Ohio Phoenix was first
located by Dale Morgan (see J. P. Walker 1986, 342).

A fellow by the name of Joseph Smith, who resides in the upper part
of Susquehanna county, has been, for the last two years we are told, employed
in dedicating [dictating?] as he says, by inspiration, a new bible. He pretended
that he had been entrusted by God with a golden bible which had been
always hidden from the world. Smith would put his face into a hat in which
he had a white stone, ^ and pretend to read from it, while his coadjutor
transcribed. The book purports to give an account of the “Ten Tribes,” and
strange as it may seem, there are some who have full faith in his Divine
commission. The book it seems is now published. We extract the following
from the Rochester Republican. ...^

1 . Smith primarily used a brown-colored stone in translating, but he
also possessed a white stone (see IV.F.l, BAINBRIDGE [NY] COURT ILE-
CORD, 20 MAR 1826).

2. For what follows, see Rochester Republican, 6 April 1830, in III.K.31,
HENRY O’REILLY ILEMINISCENCE, 1879.

274

GEAUGA (OH) GAZETTE,
CIRCA 23 NOVEMBER 1830

“Delusion,” Geauga (OH) Gazette, circa 23 November 1830, as reprinted in
Morning Courier and New-York Enquirer, 1 December 1830.

EDITORIAL NOTE

In the latter part of October 1830, Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt,
Peter Whitmer, Jr., and Ziba Peterson left Manchester, New York, for
Missouri. En route they preached in Kirtland, Geauga County, Ohio, and
vicinity. By 12 November fifty-five persons had been baptized, including
Sidney Rigdon, a former CampbeUite preacher in nearby Mentor.^ Shortly
after, the Geauga Gazette published the following account of the origin of
the missionaries’ religion. I have been unable to locate an original printing
in the incomplete files of the Geauga Gazette, but Dale Morgan found the
following reprint in the Morning Courier and New-York Enquirer Q. P. Walker
1986, 345-46).

About a couple of weeks since, three men, calling themselves Oliver
Cowdry, David Whitmer and Martin Harris,^ appeared in our village, laden
with a new revelation, which they claim to be a codicil to the New
Testament. ...

The account which they give is substantially as follows: — at a recent
period an angel appeared to a poor ignorant man residing in or near Palmyra
in Ontario County in the State of New York, directed him to open the earth
at a place designated, where he would find the new revelation engraved on
plates of metal. In obedience to the celestial messenger. Smith repaired to

1. Newel Knight, Journal [C] (c. 1846), in private possession. While
14 or 15 November 1830 is usually cited as the date on which Rigdon was
baptized, Cowdery’s letter dates his baptism sometime between 5 and 12 No¬
vember 1830. If the Painesville Telegraph is correct in assigning Rigdon’s bap¬
tism to a Monday, then 8 November is likely the correct date {Painesville Tele¬
graph, 15 February 1831).

2. Rather Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer, Jr., and
Ziba Peterson. The writer apparently assumed the men were the three wit¬
nesses.

275

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

the spot, and on opening the ground discovered an oblong stone box tightly
closed v^ith cement. He opened the sacred depository and found enclosed a
bundle of plates resembling gold, carefully united at one edge with three
silver wires so that they opened like a book. The plates were about 7 inches
long and 6 broad, and the whole pile was about 6 inches deep, each plate
about the thickness of tin. They were engraved in a character unintelligible
to the learned men of the United States, to many of whom it is said they
have been presented. The angel afterwards appeared to the three individuals,
and showed them the plates. To Smith was given to translate the character [s]
which he was enabled to do by looking through two semi-transparent stones,
but as he was ignorant of the art of writing, Cowdry and the others wrote
as Smith interpreted. They say that part of the plates escaped from them in
a supernatural manner and are to be again revealed when the events of the
time shall require them. ...

276

ROCHESTER (NY) GEM,
25 DECEMBER 1830

“Book of Mormon,” Rochester Gem, 2 (25 December 1830): 135.

In the 2d number of the GEM,^ we gave a full length portrait of this
bantling of wickedness and credulity. By a late PainsviUe, Ohio paper, we
perceive that this pretended revelation from heaven has found some believ¬
ers, and that there are preachers travelling about in those parts who pretend
that it is the only revelation which men can safely live and die by. In
Canandaigua, it is also said, that there is a book of Mormon preacher, who
is attempting to push his way forward, in spite of all opposition.^ The reason
for these eflforts is obvious. When the work spoken of came before the world,
it proved to be such a spawn of wickedness, that the press aimed a blow at
it, and it fell, ere it had scarce seen the light. The getters-up therefore, seeing
their hopes aU blasted, and their names coupled with infamy, have deter¬
mined to ‘make a raise’ on the public by some means, and thus they are going
about “like roaring lions, seeking whom they may devour.” We do not
anticipate a very great turning to this heresy. The public are too much
enlightened.

1. See III.K.l, ROCHESTER (NY) GEM, 15 MAY 1830.

2. Perhaps a reference to W. W. Phelps, who the day previous to the
publication of this account met Joseph Smith for the first time. Although
Phelps was not baptized until 16 June 1831, according to his own account,
he believed in the Book of Mormon as early as April 1830 (see III. 1. 9, W. W.
PHELPS TO OLIVER COWDERY, 21 FEB 1835). It is also possible that
this report refers to Sidney Rigdon, who preached in the Canandaigua Court¬
house about this time (see IILJ.6, EZILA THAYP^ REMINISCENCE,

1862, 83-84).

277

DAVID S. BURNETT ACCOUNT, 1831

David S. Burnett, “Something New — ‘The Golden Bible,”’ Evangelical
Inquirer (Dayton, Ohio), 7 March 1831, 217-19, 220.

EDITORIAL NOTE

David S. Burnett became pastor of the First Baptist Church of
Dayton, Ohio, in 1827, where he “met with such success that the
church grew rapidly under his ministry” (C. Conover 1932, 1:399).
He developed an interest in the teachings of Alexander Campbell and
carried a majority of his congregation over into the Campbellite or¬
ganization in 1829 {History of Dayton, Ohio, 1889, 602). In 1830
Burnett became publisher and editor of the Dayton, Ohio, monthly
Evangelical Inquirer, which occasionally included information about
Mormonism. In March 1831 Burnett published an article about Joseph
Smith and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, which intro¬
duced lengthy extracts from the Painesville Telegraph.

... Notwithstanding aU [p. 217] this, some hundreds of the rabble and
a few intelligent citizens of the western part of New York and the eastern
part of Ohio, have, with the wildest enthusiasm, embraced a feigned
revelation purporting to be literally new. From the advocates of this new
religion called Mormonism, from a letter received from the intelligent Post
Master at Palmyra,^ extracts from Mr. Thomas Campbell’s letters^ and other
sources, embracing the subjoined pieces taken from the Telegraph of
Painesville, O.: from these different quarters I learn the following particulars.
For a long time in the vicinity of Palmyra, there has existed an impression,
especially among certain loose classes of society, that treasures of great
amount were concealed near the surface of the earth, probably by the Indians,
whom they were taught to consider the descendants of the ten lost Israelitish
tribes, by the celebrated Jew who a few years since promised to gather

1. Martin Wilcox was postmaster of Palmyra from 16 August 1829 to
17 February 1839, when Pomeroy Tucker took over (T. Cook 1930, 283).

2. Thomas Campbell’s letters were published in the Painesville Tele¬
graph (see Howe 1834, 116-23; also Evangelical Inquirer, 7 March 1833, 229-
37).

278

DAVID S. BURNETT ACCOUNT, 1831

Abraham’s sons on Grand Island, thus to be made a Paradise.^ The ignorance
and superstition of these fanatics soon conjured up a ghost, who they said
was often seen and to whom was committed the care of the precious deposit.
This tradition made money diggers of many who had neither intelligence
nor industry sufficient to obtain a more reputable livelihood. But they did
not succeed and as the money was not dug up, something must be dug up
to make money. The plan was laid, doubtless, by some person behind the
curtain, who selected suitable tools. One Joseph Smith, a perfect ignoramus,
is to be a great prophet of the Lord, the fabled ghost the angel of his presence,
a few of the accomplices the apostles or witnesses of the imposition, and, to
fill up the measure of their wickedness and the absurdity of their proceedings,
the hidden golden treasure, is to be a golden bible and a new revelation. This
golden bible consisted of metallic plates six or seven inches square, of the
thickness of tin and resembling gold, the surface of which was covered with
hieroglyphic characters, unintelligible to Smith, the finder, who could [p.
218] not read English. However the angel (ghost!) that discovered the plates
to him, likewise informed him that he would be inspired to translate the
inscriptions without looking at the plates, while an amanuensis would record
his infallible reading; all which was accordingly done. But now the book
must be published, the translation of the inscriptions which Smith was
authorized to show to no man save a few accomplices, who subscribe a
certificate of these pretended facts at the end of the volume. Truly a wise
arrangement! Among the gang none had real estate save one, who mortgaged
his property to secure the printer and binder in Palmyra, but who was so
unfortunate as not to be able to convert his wife to the new faith, though he
flogged her roundly for that purpose several times. The book, an octavo of
from 500 to 1000 pages (for when I saw it I did not notice the number) did
not meet ready sale and consequently about 500 copies were sent to the
eastern part of this state, which was considered a better market. Though at

3. Mordecai M. Noah, a prominent New York Jew who purchased
Grand Island in the Niagara River and there dedicated the city of Ararat as a
refuge for oppressed Jews around the world. In a dedicatory speech, Noah
proclaimed that the Indians were “in all probability the descendants of the
lost tribes of Israel,” and invited them to join their brother Jews on the Is¬
land. Noah’s speech was published in the Wayne Sentinel, 4 October 1825
(see Vogel 1986, 43, 56, 90 n. 45).

4. Martin Harris mortgaged his farm to print the Book of Mormon
(III.L.14, MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829). He was also
accused of beating his wife (see III.A.7, LUCY HARRIS STATEMENT, 29
NOV 1833).

279

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

home it had but little success, the subjoined pieces will show that in the
Western Reserve it found better. ... [p. 219] ...

EDITOR, [p. 220]

280

JAMES GORDON BENNETT ACCOUNT, 1831

1. James Gordon Bennett, Diary, 7-8 August 1831, Rare Books
and Manuscripts Division, New York Public Library, New York,
New York.

2. [James Gordon Bennett], “Mormonism — Religious
Fanaticism — Church and State Party,” Part I, Morning Courier and
Enquirer, 31 August 1831. Reprinted in Christian Register (Boston),
24 September 1831.

3. [James Gordon Bennett], “Mormon Religion — Clerical
Ambition — ^Western New York — The Mormonites Gone to
Ohio,” Part II, Morning Courier and Enquirer, 1 September 1831.
Reprinted in Christian Register (Boston), 24 September 1831.

EDITORIAL NOTE

James Gordon Bennett (1795-1872) was born near Keith, Scotland. He
migrated to Nova Scotia in 1819, and later to New York City where he
worked briefly for the Courier. He first received national recognition when,
in 1827, he became the Washington, D.C., correspondent for the New York
Enquirer. In 1829 he received financial backing from the supporters of
Andrew Jackson to purchase the Enquirer. He then combined that paper with
the Courier to publish the Morning Courier and New York Enquirer. Under
Bennett’s four-year associate editorship (1829-32), the Courier and Enquirer
became one of the leading eastern newspapers. In 1835 he founded the New
York Herald, which became under Bennett’s editorship one of the most
influential newspapers in America. Bennett died in New York City (Wilson
and Fiske 1887, 1:238; National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1891-1980,
7:241; Arrington 1970, 353-54).

From 12 June to 18 August 1831, Bennett went on an interviewing
tour of upstate New York with Martin Van Buren and Nathaniel S. Benton.
Bennett’s personal diary of this trip is in the Manuscripts Division of the New
York Public Library. He recorded in his diary various topics of interest, but
of importance to early Mormon studies are the two entries (7 and 8 August
1831) he made at Geneva, a town about sixteen miles southeast of the Smith

281

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

farm in Manchester. While in Canandaigua on 15 August, Bennett wrote an
account of early Mormonism that drew on his diary entries, which was
printed in the Morning Courier and Enquirer on 31 August and 1 September
1831. While Bennett’s report contains obvious inaccuracies, partly due to
his desire to rush into print, they also “reflect myths about the coming forth
of the Book of Mormon which were already in the process of formation in
1831” (Arrington 1970, 356).

[1. Diary, 7-8 August 1831]

Geneva Aug[us]t 7 — 1831 —

Mormonism — Old [Joseph] Smith^ was a healer — a great story teller —
very glib — was a [vender?] — made gingerbread and buttermints See Sec —
Young [Joseph] Smith was careless, idle, indolent fellow — 22 years old —
brought up to live by his wits — ^which means a broker of small wants — [Mar¬
tin] Harris^ was a hardy industrious farmer of Palmyra — with some
money — could speak off the Bible by heart — Henry Rign Ringdon [Sidney
Rigdon]^ a parson in general — smart fellow — he is the author of the
Bible — they dig first for money — a great many hiUs — the Golden Bible Hill
where there is a hole 30 or forty feet into the side — 6 feet diameter"^ — dug
[among?] and the chest fled his approach — turned it into a religious plot and
gave out the golden plates — the Hill a long <narrow> hiU which spreads out
broad to the South — covered with Beach[,] Maple, Basswood and White
Wood — the north end quite naked — the trees cut off in the road from
Canandaigua to Palmyra between Manchester Sc Palmyra — several fine
orchards on the east — the and fine farms on the west — here the ground is
hilly — but small hills — very uneven — the outlet [of Lake Canandaigua] runs
past part of it — Mormonites went to Ohio because the people here would
not pay any attention to them — Smith’s wife [Emma] looked into a hole and

1. On Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

2. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

3. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to LA. 13, SID¬
NEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

4. Regarding evidence of considerable digging on the eastern slope of
the HiU Cumorah, see IILJ.20, LORENZO SAUNDERS TO THOMAS
GILEGG, 28 JAN 1885, 135; IILK.32, EDWARD STEVENSON REMI¬
NISCENCE, 1893.

282

JAMES GORDON BENNETT ACCOUNT, 1831

the chest fled into a trunk and he lost several of them[.] [William W.] Phelps^
of the [Ontario] Phoenix was converted to Mormonism and is now a teacher
or elder — ...

— Aug[us]t 8 [1831] —

Mormonism — C[harles]. Butler^ saw [Martin] Harris [they?] wanted to
borrow money to print the Book — he told him he carried the engravings
from the plates to New York — showed them to professor Anthon who said
that he did not know what language they were — told him to carry them to
Doc[tor] [Samuel L.] Mitchell^ — Doct[o]r Mitchell examined them — and
compared them with other hieroglyphics — thought them very curious — and
they were the characters of a nation now ex=tinct which he named — Harris
returned to Anthon who put some questions to him and got angry with
Harris[.]

[2. Article, 31 August 1831]

CANANDAIGUA, Aug. 15th, 1831.

New York has been celebrated for her parties — her sects — her explo¬
sions — her curiosities of human character — her fanaticism political and
religious. The strangest parties and wildest opinions originate among us. The
human mind in our rich vales — on our sunny hills — in our crowded cities
or thousand villages — or along the shores of our translucent lakes bursts
beyond all ordinary trammels; throws aside with equal fastidiousness the
maxims of ages and the discipline of generations, and strikes out new paths
for itself. In politics — in religion — in all the great concerns of man, New
York has a character peculiarly her own; strikingly original, purely Ameri¬
can — energetic and wild to the very farthest boundaries of imagination. The
centre of the state is quiet comparatively, and grave to a degree; but its two
extremities, Eastern and Western; the city of the Atlantic, and the continuous
villages of the Lakes, contain all that is curious in human character — daring
in conception — wild in invention, and singular in practical good sense as
well as in solemn foolery.

5. On W. W. Phelps (1792-1872), see introduction to III.G.6,
OLIVER COWDERY TO W. W. PHELPS, 7 SEP 1834.

6. On Charles Butler (1802-97), see introduction to IILF.3, MAR¬
TIN HARRIS INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES BUTLER, CIRCA 1830-
1831.

7. On Samuel L. MitcheU (1764-1831), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 45.

283

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

You have heard of MORMONISM — who has not? Paragraph has
followed paragraph in the newspapers, recounting the movements, detailing
their opinions and surprising distant readers with the traits of a singularly new
religious sect which had its origin in this state. Mormonism is the latest device
of roguery, ingenuity, ignorance and religious excitement combined, and
acting on materials prepared by those who ought to know better. It is one
of the mental exhalations of Western New York.

The individuals who gave birth to this species of fanaticism are very
simple personages, and not known until this thrust them into notice. They
are the old and young Joe Smith’s, Harris a farmer, Ringdon [Rigdon] a sort
of preacher on general religion from Ohio, together with several other
persons equally infatuated, cunning, and hypocritic. The first of these
persons. Smith, resided on the borders of Wayne and Ontario counties on
the road leading from Canandaigua to Palmyra.^ Old Joe Smith had been a
country pedlar in his younger days, and possessed all the shrewdness, cunning,
and small intrigue which are generally and justly attributed to that description
of persons. He was a great story teller, full of anecdotes picked up in his
peregrinations — and possessed a tongue as smooth as oil and as quick as
lightning. He had been quite a speculator in a small way in his younger days,
but had been more fortunate in picking up materials for his tongue than stuff
for the purse. Of late years he picked up his living somewhere in the town
of Manchester by following a branch of the “American System” — the
manufacture of gingerbread and such like domestic wares. ^ In this article he
was a considerable speculator, having on hand during a fall of price no less
than two baskets full, and I believe his son, Joe, Junior, was at times a partner
in the concern. What their dividends were I could not learn, but they used
considerable molasses, and were against the duty on that article. Youngjoe,
who afterwards figured so largely in the Mormon religion, was at that period
a careless, indolent, idle, and shiftless fellow. He hung round the villages and
strolled round the taverns without any end or aim — without any positive

8. The Smiths lived on Stafford Road, not on the Canandaigua Road.

9. Compare IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 12,
14.

10. To avoid paying duty on sugar, refiners began importing molasses.
From May 1828 to May 1830, a duty of 10 cents per gallon was imposed on
molasses. But in May 1830, following public outrage, the duty was reduced
to 5 cents per gallon (Vogt 1908, 21; V. S. Clark 1949, 279). The Smiths are
known to have made their own molasses (see LD.7, WILLIAM SMITH IN¬
TERVIEW WITH E. C. BRIGGS, 1893; and IILJ.8, POMEROY
TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 14).

284

JAMES GORDON BENNETT ACCOUNT, 1831

defect or as little merit in his character. He was rather a stout able bodied
fellow, and might have made a good living in such a country as this where
any one who is willing to work, can soon get on in the world. He was
however, the son of a speculative Yankee pedlar, and was brought up to live
by his wits. Harris also one of the fathers of Mormonism was a substantial
farmer near Palmyra — full of passages of the scriptures — rather wild and
flighty in his talk occasionally — but holding a very respectable character in
his neighborhood for sobriety, sense and hard working.

A few years ago the Smith’s and others who were influenced by their
notions, caught an idea that money was hid in several of the hills which give
variety to the country between the Canandaigua Lake and Palmyra on the
Erie Canal. Old Smith had in his pedling excursions picked up many stories
of men getting rich in New England by digging in certain places and
stumbling upon chests of money. The fellow excited the imagination of his
few auditors, and made them all anxious to lay hold of the bilk axe and the
shovel. As yet no fanatical or rehgious character had been assumed by the
Smith’s. They exhibited the simple and ordinary desire of getting rich by
some short cut if possible. With this view the Smith’s and their associates
commenced digging, in the numerous hills which diversify the face of the
country in the town of Manchester. The sensible country people paid slight
attention to them at first. They knew them to be a thriftless set, more addicted
to exerting their wits than their industry, readier at inventing stories and tales
than attending church or engaging in any industrious trade. On the sides &
in the slopes of several of these hills, these excavations are still to be seen.
They would occasionally conceal their purposes, and at other times reveal
them by such snatches as might excite curiosity. They dug these holes by
day, and at night talked and dreamed over the counties’ riches they should
enjoy, if they could only hit upon an iron chest full of dollars. In excavating
the grounds, they began by taking up the green sod in the form of a circle
of six feet diameter — then would continue to dig to the depth often, twenty,
and sometimes thirty feet. At last some person who joined them spoke of a
person in Ohio near Painesville, who had a particular felicity in finding out
the spots of ground where money is hid and riches obtained. He related long
stories how this person had been along shore in the east — how he had much
experience in money digging — how he dreamt of the very spots where it
could be found. “Can we get that man here?” asked the enthusiastic Smiths.
“Why,” said the other, “I guess as how we could by going for him.” “How
far off?” “I guess some two hundred miles — I would go for him myself but
I want a little change to bear my expenses.” To work the whole money-dig¬
ging crew went to get some money to pay the expenses of bringing on a man

285

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

who could dream out the exact and particular spots where money in iron
chests was hid under ground. Old Smith returned to his gingerbread
factory — ^young Smith to his financing faculties, and after some time, by hook
or by crook, they contrived to scrape together a little “change” sufficient to
fetch on the money dreamer from Ohio.

After the lapse of some weeks the expedition was completed, and the
famous Ohio man made his appearance among them. This recruit was the
most cunning, intelligent, and odd of the whole. He had been a preacher of
almost every religion — a teacher of all sorts of morals. — He was perfectly au
fait with every species of prejudice, folly or fanaticism, which governs the
mass of enthusiasts. In the course of his experience, he had attended all sorts
of camp-meetings, prayer meetings, anxious meetings, and revival meetings.
He knew every turn of the human mind in relation to these matters. He had
a superior knowledge of human nature, considerable talent, great plausibility,
and knew how to work the passions as exactly as a Cape Cod sailor knows
how to work a whale ship. His name I believe is Henry Rangdon or Ringdon
[Sidney Rigdon], or some such word.^^ About the time that this person
appeared among them, a splendid excavation was begun in a long narrow
hill, between Manchester and Palmyra. This hill has since been called by
some, the Golden Bible Hill. The road from Canandaigua to Palmyra, runs
along its western base. At the northern extremity the hill is quite abrupt and
narrow. It runs to the south for a half mile and then spreads out into a piece
of broad table land, covered with beautiful orchards and wheat fields. On
the east, the Canandaigua outlet runs past it on its way to the beautiful village
of Vienna in Phelps. It is profusely covered to the top with Beech, Maple,
Bass, and White-wood — the northern extremity is quite bare of trees. In the
face of this hill, the money diggers renewed their work with fresh ardour,
Ringdon partly uniting with them in their operations.

11. Bennett apparently conflated separate stories then circulating in the
Palmyra/Manchester area about two individuals. The first, Luman Walters
the Magician, probably appeared in the area in the early or mid- 1820s. The
Palmyra Reflector had published accounts describing Walters as Smith’s occult
mentor. The second, Sidney Rigdon, came to Fayette, New York, in Decem¬
ber 1830. Believing Smith ignorant. Palmyra residents speculated that Rigdon
had authored the Book of Mormon, although at the time they had no direct
evidence connecting Rigdon with the Smiths prior to the book’s publication.
It is unclear whether the conflation of the two men originated with Bennett
or his sources.

286

JAMES GORDON BENNETT ACCOUNT, 1831

[3. Article, 1 September 1831]

About this time a very considerable religious excitement came over
New York in the shape of a revival. It was also about the same period, that
a powerful and concerted effort was made by a class of religionists, to stop
the mails on Sunday^^ — to give a sectarian character to Temperance and other
societies- — to keep up the Pioneer lines of stages and canal boats, and to
organize generally a religious party, that would act altogether in every public
and private concern of life. The greatest efforts were making by the ambition,
tact, skill and influence of certain of the celery, and other lay persons, to
regulate and control the public mind — to check all its natural and buoyant
impulses — to repress effectually freedom of opinion — and to turn the tide of
public sentiment entirely in favor of blending religious and worldly concerns
together. Western New York has for years, had a most powerful and
ambitious religious party of zealots, and their dupes. They have endeavored
ever since the first settlement of Rochester, to organize a religious hierarchy,
which would regulate the pursuits, the pleasures, and the very thoughts of
social life. This organization was kept up by banding churches and congre¬
gations together — by instituting laws similar to those of excommunication —
by a species of espionage, as powerful and as terrible as that of a Spanish
Inquisition. Every occupation in life — every custom of the people — every
feeling and every thought, from the running of a stage or of a lady’s tongue
up to the legislation of the state, or of Congress, was to be regularly marked
and numbered like so many boxes of contraband or lawful merchandise, by
these self-created religious censorships and divines. Rochester is, and was the
great headquarters of the rehgious empire. The late Mr. Qosiah] Bissell, one

12. On the Sunday Mail Movement, see Schlesinger 1945, 350-60;
and Holms 1939.

13. Josiah Bissell, a merchant and land speculator, was an early settler
in Rochester. An elder in Rochester’s Third Presbyterian Church and presi¬
dent of Monroe County’s Bible Society, Bissell headed a nationwide cam¬
paign to abolish the transportation of mail and the opening of post offices on
Sundays. In Rochester Bissell attempted to replace moderate politicians with
evangelicals who would support his Sabbatarian movement. He invested his
fortune in a line of stagecoaches and packet boats that did not run on Sun¬
days, and called for a boycott of post offices and stage lines which refused to
honor the sabbath. Jacksonians, like Bennett, resisted Bissell’s efforts as a viola¬
tion of the principle of the separation of church and state. Bissell died bank¬
rupt in 1831 (Wilson and Fiske 1887, 1:271; P. E. Johnson 1978, 16, 27, 85,
92-94).

287

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

of the most original and talented men in matters of business, was equally so
in religious enthusiasm, and all measures calculated to spread it among the
people. — The singular character of the people of western New York — their
originality, activity, and proneness to excitement furnished admirable mate¬
rials for enthusiasts in religion or roguery to work upon. Pure religion — the
religion of the heart and conduct — the religion that makes men better and
wiser — that makes woman more amiable and benevolent — that purifies the
soul — that represses ambition — that seeks the private oratory and not the
highway to pour forth its aspirations: such a religion was not that of the party
of which I speak. Theirs is the religion of the pomp and circumstance of
glorious controversy — the artificial religion of tracts. Magdalen Reports,
lines of stages — the rehgion of collecting money from those who should first
pay their debts — of sending out missionaries to spend it, and of letting the
poor and ignorant at home starve and die. Such mistaken principles and
erroneous views must when attempted to be carried into effect, breed strange
results. Men’s minds in this age will not submit to the control of hypocrisy
or superstition or clerical ambition. They may be shackled for a day through
their wives and daughters — for a month — a year, but it cannot be lasting;
when the first die or the last get husbands, independence will be asserted.

This general impulse given to religious fanaticism by a set of men in
Western New York, has been productive among other strange results of the
infatuation of Mormonism. This piece of roguery, folly and frenzy (for it
partakes of all) is the genuine fruit of the same seeds which produced the
Sunday Mail movement — the Pioneer line of stages — the Magdalen Reports
See. See. It is religion run into madness by zealots and hypocrites.

It was during this state of public feeling in which the money diggers of
Ontario county, by the suggestions of the Ex-Preacher from Ohio, thought
of turning their digging concern into a religious plot, and thereby have a
better chance of working upon the credulity and ignorance of the[i]r
associates and the neighborhood. Money and a good living might be got in
this way. It was given out that visions had appeared to Joe Smith — that a set
of golden plates on which was engraved the “Book of Mormon,” enclosed
in an iron chest, was deposited somewhere in the hill I have mentioned.

14. The “Magdalen Report” was issued in 1830 by Presbyterian minis¬
ter John R. McDowall. It was aimed at reforming prostitutes in New York
City. But its lurid, clinically detailed account of prostitution was decried even
by McDowaU’s fellow reformers. The “Magdalen Report” was reprinted in
1833 in McDowalVs Journal^ which was declared a nuisance by a New York
grand jury. McDowall died in 1833 (Coles 1977, 126-27).

288

JAMES GORDON BENNETT ACCOUNT, 1831

People laughed at the first intimation of the story, but the Smiths and
Rangdon persisted in its truth. They began also to talk very seriously, to
quote scripture, to read the bible, to be contemplative, and to assume that
grave studied character, which so easily imposes on ignorant and superstitious
people. Hints were given out that young Joe Smith was the chosen one of
God to reveal this new mystery to the world; and Joe from being an idle
young fellow, lounging about the villages, jumped up into a very grave
parsonlike man, who felt he had on his shoulders the salvation of the world,
besides a respectable looking sort of a blackcoat. Old Joe, the ex-preacher,
and several others, were the believers of the new faith, which they admitted
was an improvement in Christianity, foretold word for word in the bible.
They treated their own invention with the utmost religious respect. By the
special interposition of God, the golden plates, on which was engraved the
Book of Mormon, and other works, had been buried for ages in the hill by
a wandering tribe of the children of Israel, who had found their way to
western New York, before the birth of Christianity itself. Joe Smith is
discovered to be the second Messiah who was to reveal this word to the
world and to reform it anew.

In relation to the finding of the plates and the taking the engraving, a
number of ridiculous stories are told. — Some unsanctified fellow looked out
the other side of the hill. They had to follow it with humility and found it
embedded beneath a beautiful grove of maples. Smith’s wife, who had a Httle
of the curiosity of her sex, peeped into the large chest in which he kept the
engravings taken from the golden plates, and straightway one half the new
Bible vanished, and has not been recovered to this day. ^ Such were the
effects of the unbelievers on the sacred treasure. There is no doubt but the
ex-parson from Ohio is the author of the book which was recently printed
and published in Palmyra, and passes for the new Bible. It is full of strange
narratives — in the style of the scriptures, and bearing on its face the marks of
some ingenuity, and familiar acquaintance with the Bible. It is probable that
Joe Smith is well acquainted with the trick, but Harris the farmer and the
recent converts, are true believers. — Harris was the first man who gave credit
to the story of Smith and the ex-preacher. He was their maiden convert — the
Ali of the Ontario Mahomet, who believed without a reason and without a
murmur. They attempted to get the Book printed, but could not raise the

15. Apparently a distorted account of Martin Harris’s loss of a portion
of the translation manuscript in June 1828.

16. Bennett’s is probably the first published account that attempts to
credit Sidney Rigdon with authoring the Book of Mormon.

289

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

means till Harris stept [stepped] forward, and raised money on his farm for
that purpose/^ Harris with several manuscripts in his pocket, went to the
city of New York, and called upon one of the Professors of Columbia College
for the purpose of shewing them to him. Harris says that the Professor
thought them very curious, but admitted that he could not decypher them.^^
Said he to Harris, “Mr. Harris you had better go to the celebrated Doct.
Mitchell and shew them to him. He is very learned in these ancient languages,
and I have no doubt will be able to give you some satisfaction.” “Where
does he live,” asked Harris. He was told, and off he posted with the
engravings from the Golden Plates to submit to Doc. Mitchell — Harris says^^
that the Doctor received him very “purlitely,” looked at his engravings —
made a learned dissertation on them — compared them with the hieroglyphics
discovered by ChampoUion in Egypt — and set them down as the language
of a people formerly in existence in the East, but now no more.

The object of his going to the city to get the “Book of Mormon”
printed, was not however accomplished. He returned with his manuscript
or engravings to Palmyra — tried to raise money by mortgage on his farm
from the New York Trust Company — did raise the money, but from what
source — whether the Trust Company or not I am uncertain. At last a
printer in Palmyra undertook to print the manuscript of Joe Smith, Harris
becoming responsible for the expense. They were called translations, but in
fact and in truth they are believed to be the work of the Ex-Preacher from
Ohio, who stood in the background and put forward Joe to father the new
bible and the new faith. After the publication of the golden bible, they began
to make converts rapidly. The revivals and other religious excitements had
thrown up materials for the foundation of a new sect, they soon found they
had not dug for money in vain — they began to preach — to pray — to see more
visions — to prophesy and perform the most fantastic tricks — there was now
no difficulty in getting a living and the gingerbread factory was abandoned.
They created considerable talk over all this section of the country. Another
revelation came upon them, and through Joe and some other of these
prophets, they were directed to take up their march and go out to the
promised land — to a place near Painesville, Ohio [D&C 37]. Money was
raised in a twinkling from the new converts. Their principles — their ten-

17. See IILL.14, MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829.

18. See discussion in “Introduction to Martin Harris Collection.”

19. Bennett is reporting hearsay since Harris had left for Ohio in
March 1831.

20. See IILF.3, MARTIN HARRIS INTERVIEW WITH CHAR¬
LES BUTLER, CIRCA 1830-1831.

290

JAMES GORDON BENNETT ACCOUNT, 1831

ets — their organization — their discipline were as yet unformed and unfash¬
ioned, and probably are so to this day. Since they went to Ohio they have
adopted some of the worldly views of the Shakers and have formed a sort of
community system where everything is in common.^ Joe Smith, Harris, the
Ex-pedlar and the Ex-parson are among their elders and preachers — so also
now is [William W.] Phelps one of Mr. Granger’s^^ leading anti-masonic
editors in this village.

Such is a brief view of the rise and progress of the Mormon Religion one
of the strangest pieces of fanaticism to which the ill-advised and the worst
regulated ambition and folly of certain portions of the clergy in Western
New York ever gave birth. What a lesson it ought to teach us!

21. Communitarianism was alluded to in 4 Nephi 1:24-26. On early
Mormon communitarianism, see Arrington 1953; and L. Cook 1985.

22. Francis Granger (1792-1868), American political leader, was born
in Suffield, Connecticut. After graduating from Yale College, he settled in
Canandaigua, New York, in 1816 and practiced law. In 1825 Granger was
elected to the State Assembly. After the disappearance of William Morgan in
1826, he became a leader of the anti-Masonic movement in western New
York. He was chosen by anti-Masons and National Republicans for governor
in 1830 and 1832, but both times was defeated. In 1834 he was elected to
Congress as a Whig, where he served until 1843. From 1861 until his death,
he lived in retirement at Canandaigua (Malone 1962, 7:482-83).

291

ILLINOIS PATRIOT, 16 SEPTEMBER 1831

Illinois Patriot (Jacksonville), 16 September 1831, as reprinted in New Hamp¬
shire Miscellany y 11 October 1831. Also reprinted in New Hampshire Gazette,
25 October 1831 (Quinn 1987, 146), and Independent Volunteer (Montrose,
Pennsylvania), 11 November 1831.

EDITORIAL NOTE

This item was originally published in the Illinois Patriot (Jacksonville),
16 September 1831, but original copies of the Patriot are extremely rare and

I have been unable to locate an original printing. I have therefore reproduced
a portion of the item below from a reprint in the New Hampshire Miscellany,

II October 1831 (Kirkham 1951, 2:405-6). This source is a report of an
unknown Mormon preacher’s account of the coming forth of the Book of
Mormon.

The Mormonites. — A Preacher of this sect visited us last Saturday. We
heard a part of his lecture, which occupied more than two hours. From his
account, this sect came into existence a little more than a year since in the
following manner: — ^A young man about 23 years of age, somewhere in
Ontario county, N.Y. was visited by an angel! (here the preacher looked
around him apparently to see if the credulity of the people in this enlightened
age, could be thus imposed on) who informed him three times in one night
by visiting a certain place in that town he would have revealed to him some¬
thing of importance. The young man was disturbed, but did not obey the
summons until the following day, when the angel again visited him. At the
place appointed he found in the earth a box which contained a set of thin
plates resembling gold, with Arabic characters inscribed on them. The plates
were minutely described as being connected with rings in the shape of the
letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book. The
preacher said he found in the same place two stones with which he was
enabled by placing them over his eyes and putting his head in a dark corner
to decypher the hieroglyphics on the plates! — This we were told was per¬
formed to admiration, and now, as the result, we have a book which the
speaker informed us was the Mormon Bible — a book second to no other —
without [which] the holy Bible, he seemed to think, would be of little use.

292

BROOME COUNTY (NY) COURIER,
29 December 1831

“Mormonism,” Broome County Courier (Binghamton, New York) 1 (29
December 1831): 2, reprinted from the United States Gazette. Reprinted in
The Herald of Truth (Philadelphia), 17 December 1831.

EDITORIAL NOTE

This item is apparently influenced by James Gordon Bennett’s article
in the Morning Courier and Enquirer, 31 August and 1 September 1831 (see
IILK.6, JAMES GORDON BENNETT ACCOUNT, 1831). However, it
is different enough to justify its inclusion here. The item includes the
following note of introduction: “From a correspondent of the Salem Gazette,
dated Marietta, (Ohio,) Nov. 16, 1831.”

You are sensible how celebrated has become western New York and
the adjacent counties of Ohio, for their sects — their parties — their fanaticism,
religious, political and anti-masonic. Their conceits are wild to the very
farthest bounds of imagination. Wild in invention, and singularly successful
in carrying into effect their solemn fooleries. You have heard of the
Mormonites; the newspapers have given detailed accounts of those fanatics,
but perhaps their origin is not so well known. Mormonism is the fruit of
religious excitement in this quarter, combined with roguery, ingenuity and
ignorance frequently operating successfully on those who ought to know
better.

The inventors of this species of fanaticism are very simple personages,
and were unknown tiU thus brought into notice. They are old and young,
Joe Smith, one [Martin] Harris,^ a farmer, aU of New York, and one Ringdon
[Sidney Rigdon],^ a sort of preacher, from Ohio, with several other infatu¬
ated, cunning hypocrites. Old Joe Smith was once a pedlar, and possessed all
that cunning shrewdness and small intrigue characteristic of that description

1. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

2. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to LA. 13, SID¬
NEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

293

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

ofpersons. He had a smooth tongue, was a ready story-teller, full of anecdotes
he had picked up his peregrinations, and had been more fortunate in picking
up materials for his tongue thus for supplying his purse. He at one time set
up the manufacture of gingerbread, but on the fall of the article, failed in
business. — Young Joe was an idle, strolling, worthless fellow, although he
afterwards flourished so largely in the Mormon religion. He was, however,
the son of a Yankee pedlar, and brought up to live by his wits. Harris, whom
I have mentioned, was considered as a substantial farmer near Palmyra, of a
wild imagination, full of passages of scripture, had heard and seen much of
the extravagance of the day produced by modern revival meetings, and
believed fully in the wonders and miracles wrought on these occasions.

The Smiths had conceived of the idea of getting rich by some short
cut: the usual expedient of digging for hidden treasures was hit upon. Having
heard many wonderful stories of men getting rich by digging and stumbling
upon chests of money on the shores of New-England, the fellow succeeded
by his oratorical powers, in exciting the imagination of a few auditors, and
made them so anxious to possess themselves of those hidden treasures, that
at it they went with shovel and spade, excavating the ground in many places
between Canandaigua Lake and Palmyra. These excavations are still to be
seen in many places. They continued their labors until, at length one of the
party, tired of a laborious and unsuccessful search, spoke of a person in Ohio
near Painesville, on Lake Erie, who had a wonderful facility in finding the
spots where money was hid, and how he could dream of the very spots where
it was to be found; “Can we get that man here?” asked the infatuated Smiths.
“Why,” replied the other, “I guess as how we might by going after him; and
if I had a little change to pay the expenses, I would go myself.” Away they
went; some to his farm, and some to his merchandise, to gain money to pay
the expense of bringing the money dreamer from Ohio. The desired object
was at length accomplished, and Ringdon, the famous Ohio man, made his
appearance.^ He had been a preacher of various religions, and a teacher of
almost all kinds of morals. He was experienced in all sorts of camp meetings,
anxious meetings, and revivals, or four days meetings. He knew every turn
of the human mind relative to these matters. He had considerable talent and
great plausibility. — He partly united with the money diggers in making an
excavation in what has since been called the ''Golden Bible Hill’’

These were times and these are a people admirably suited to the

3. Concerning the suggestion that Sidney Rigdon was connected with
Smith’s money-digging activities before publication of the Book of Mormon,
see IILK.6, JAMES GORDON BENNETT ACCOUNT, 1831, n. 11.

294

BROOME COUNTY (NY) COURIER, 1831

promulgation of a new Bible and a new religion. Such fanatics as these, were
the murderers of [William] Morgan."^ In such times and under such circum¬
stances, was bred the Mormon religion.

In this age of wonders, the cunning expreacher from Ohio suggested
to the money diggers to turn their digging concern into a religious plot. It
was therefore given out that a vision had appeared to Joe Smith, that there
was deposited in the hill I have mentioned an iron chest containing golden
plates on which was engraved the ''Book of Mormon.'' These engravings were
said to be in unknown characters, to all but the translator, and were deposited
there by a wandering tribe of the children of Israel before the Christian era.
It was now given out that young Joe Smith was the chosen one of God to
reveal this new ministry to the world — to be the second Messiah to reveal
to the world this word of life, and to reform it anew. So Joe, from being an
idle, lounging fellow, became a grave, parson-like man, with a respectable
looking sort of a black coat, and with the salvation of the whole world upon
his shoulders. Old Joe, the ex-preacher, and several others were the converts
to the new faith, which they asserted was foretold in the Bible. But Harris
was undoubtedly a true convert, and the first man who gave credit to the
whole story. He was the Ali of the New York Mahomet. Ringdon the
preacher knew well how to work upon the credulity of a people already
excited to religious enthusiasm. His aspect was grave and contemplative, and
he could quote abundance of scripture to prove his assertions. This exparson
is no doubt the author of the book. — It is full of strange narrative, in the
style of the scriptures, and evinces some ingenuity.

A fac-simile of the characters on the golden plates was carried to Dr.
[Samuel L.] Mitchell,^ by Harris. The Doctor gave some learned observations
on them, but wiser heads than he were employed in the translation. Harris
raised money on a mortgage of his farm, and got the translation printed at
Palmyra. The book came out to the world, and the diggers soon found they
had not dug for money in vain, for by its precepts money could be raised in
a twinkling from the new converts, who were daily flocking to the new

4. William Morgan, a stonemason from Batavia, New York, disap¬
peared in September 1826. A disaffected Freemason, Morgan had just fin¬
ished writing an expose of the secret rituals of the fraternity and was believed
to have been murdered by Masons. Morgan’s book was published posthu¬
mously in 1826 under the title Illustrations of Masonry: By One of the Fraternity
Who Has Devoted Thirty Years to the Subject (Batavia, New York: David C.
Miller, 1826).

5. On Samuel L. Mitchell (1764-1831), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 45.

295

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

standard. Another revelation now came upon them. — The prophets were
directed to lead the way to the promised land, a place near Painesville, Ohio,
and subsequently to some place on the Mississippi river, where they have
adopted some of the worldly views of the Shakers, having formed a sort of
community system. The roads in Trumbull county [Ohio] were at times
crowded with these deluded wretches, with their wagons and eflfects, on
their way to the promised land.

The infatuation of these people is astonishing beyond measure. Hus¬
bands tearing themselves from their wives and such of their families as refuse
to go, and wives deserting their husbands, to join the infatuated clan. — A
respectable physician of Trumbull county [Ohio], who informed me of the
latter proceedings, also informed me of several instances where the sick have
died, refusing medical aid, persisting in the belief that faith in the Mormon
religion would save their lives. That he actually had been called in cases of
the last extremity, where their faith had finally failed them.

296

LOCKPORT (NY) BALANCE, 1832

Lockport (New York) Balance, 1832, as quoted in New York Evangelist, 1832,
as published in “Mormonism,” Boston Recorder, 10 October 1832, 1.

EDITORIAL NOTE

The present item originaUy appeared in the Lockport (New York)
Balance in 1832, sometime before October. Because this paper is extremely
rare for the year 1832, this item is only known through reprints in two
sources. On 10 October 1832, the Boston Recorder reprinted an item from the
New York Evangelist, a Presbyterian periodical published in New York City,
which included a lengthy quotation from the Balance. The Evangelist intro¬
duced the quote from the Balance as foUows:

We have not heretofore thought in [it] necessary to occupy our columns with
the rise and progress of this singular delusion. But we understand its abettors
are sending out their agents, and actually making proselytes in different parts
of the country. And therefore we have concluded to give a brief account of
the matter. The leaders of the affair claim to have been selected as the medium
of a new revelation from heaven. The Lockport, N.Y. Balance, published in
the vicinity where it first began, has given a brief account of its origin from
which we learn that . . .

The principal personage in this farce, is a certain Jo Smith, an ignorant,
and nearly unlettered young man, living at, or near the vihage of Palmyra;
the second, an itinerant pamphlet pedlar, and occasionaUy, a journeyman
printer, named Oliver Cowdry^; the third, Martin Harris,^ a respectable farmer
at Palmyra. Others less important actors, have been brought in, as the
exigencies of the case required. About two years since. Smith pretended to
have been directed, in a dream, or vision, to a certain spot located between
the vihage of Palmyra and Manchester. A slight excavation of the earth,
enabled him to arrive at this new revelation, written in mysterious characters.

1. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50) and his brief experience as a printer,
see “Introduction to Oliver Cowdery CoUection.”

2. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
CoUection.”

297

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

upon gold plates. A pair of spectacles, of strange and peculiar construction
were found with the plates, to aid the optics of the prophet. Soon after
another very fortunate circumstance occurred. This was the introduction of
Oliver Cowdry, to whom, and whom only, was given the ability — with the
aid of the spectacles — to translate the mysterious characters^; all this arranged,
but one thing was wanting to promulgate the new revelation — money . Martin
Harris was possessed of a valuable farm, acquired by industry and economy;
in religion he was a credulous zealot. His credulity and his money, were too
conspicuous to be overlooked by the modern apostles. In due time, a divine
command came to Harris, through Jo, to devote his property, and all that
was his, to the project. Harris’ farm was mortgaged, and the printing of the
Bible executed."^ It is a book of over 500 pages, and is entitled “Book of
Mormon.” Of the book, it is only necessary to say that it is a ridiculous
imitation of the manner of the Holy Scriptures; and in many instances, a
plagiarism upon their language. With all its glaring inconsistencies, it can
hardly claim the poor merit of common ingenuity. The projectors of the
scheme have attempted to connect a story, historically consistent. The
surmise connected with the destruction of Babylon, is brought to their aid,
that a portion of the Jews, wandered to this continent, and by Divine
command, deposited the “Book of Mormon,” in the obscure spot, where
the lucky stars of Jo Smith directed him.

It is supposed that there are already more than a thousand persons
carried away with this strange delusion. Their prophet selected a place in the
town of Kirtland, Geneva [Geauga] county, which he called “the promised
land.”

Hither the deluded followers of the false prophet, repaired by boat loads
along the canal, principally from the counties of Ontario and Wayne. Such
as have property, convert it to a common stock, and thus create an induction
which is not overlooked by the idle and vicious. Families, in some instances,
have been divided, and in others, mothers have been obliged to follow their
deluded husbands, or adopt the disagreeable alternative, of parting with them
and their children. ...

3. The writer errs since Smith was the “only” person to use the specta-

clcs.

4. See III.L.14, MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829.

298

10.

William e. mclellin to Samuel mclellin,

4 August 1832

William E. McLellin to Samuel McLellin, 4 August 1832, McLellin Papers,
RLDS Church Library-Archives, Independence, Missouri.

EDITORIAL NOTE

William E. McLellin (1806-83) was born in Smith County, Tennessee.
He first heard the Mormon gospel preached while living in Paris, Illinois,
and was subsequently baptized in August 1831 at Independence, Missouri.
He was ordained an elder on 24 August 1831, and an apostle on 15 February
1835. Following the death of his first wife, Cynthia, he married Emeline
Miller (1819-?) on 26 April 1832. After several years of difficulty with church
leaders, McLellin was excommunicated in 1838. After practicing medicine
a short time in Hampton, Illinois, he attempted to organize a new church in
Kirtland, Ohio, in 1847. Following his wife’s baptism into the RLDS church
in 1870, McLellin moved to Independence, Missouri, where he subsequently
died (L. Cook 1981, 106-7; Jenson 1971, 1:82-83).

Writing from Independence, Missouri, to his brother, Samuel, and
other relatives in Tennessee on 4 August 1832, McLellin announced his
conversion to Mormonism and included a brief account of the coming forth
of the Book of Mormon. The letter’s cover reads: “Mr. Samuel McLelin /
Carthage / Smith County / Tennessee.”

Jackson County, Missouri, Independence, 4th August 1832.

Beloved Relatives. Long! Long has it been since I’ve heard from you. And
no doubt, you have thought the time long since you have heard from me.
Probably you have thought that I was no more! Distracted, Cast away or that
I had for=gotten <you> forever — But I can assure you that I yet remember
you with the warmest feelings of heart. I wrote a letter to you the last of last
November [1831]^ but I think it uncertain whether you read it; at least, I
will now give a short account of my peregrinations and the scenes that I have
experienced for one year past.

1 . This letter has not been recovered.

299

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

Some time in July 1831, Two men^ came to Paris [Illinois] & held an
evening meeting, only a few at=tended, but among the others, I was there.
They delivered some ideas which appeared very strange to me at that time.
They said that in September 1827 an Angel appeared to Joseph Smith (in
Ontario Co. New York) and showed to him the confusion on the earth
respecting true religion. It also told him to go a few miles distant to a certain
hill and there he should find some plates with engravings, which (if he was
faith=ful) he should be enabled to translate. He went as directed and found
plates (which had the appearance of fine gold) about 8 inches long 5 or 6
inches wide and alltogether about 6 inches thick; each one about as thick as
thin paste board fastened together and opened in the form of a book
containing engravings of reformed Egyptian Hiero=glyphical characters:
which he was inspired to translate and the record was pub=lished in 1830
and is called the book of Mormon. It is a record which was kept on this
continent by the ancient inhabitants. Those men had this book with them
and they told us about it, and also of the rise of the church (which is now
called Mormonites from their faith in this book See.) They left Paris very
early next morning and pursued their journey westward. But in a few days
two others came into the neighbourhood proclaiming that these were the
last days, and that God had sent forth the book of Mormon to show the times
of the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies when the Saviour shall come to
destroy iniquity off the face of the earth, and reign with his saints in
Mellennial Rest. One of these was a witness to the book and had seen an
angel which declared its truth (his name was David Whitmer).^ They were
in the neighbourhood about a week. I talked with them by way of enquiry
and argument. They believed Joseph Smith to be an inspired prophet. They
told me that he and between 20 and thirty [of| their preachers were on their
way to Independence. My curiosity was roused <up> and my anxiety also
to know the truth — ^And though I had between 30 8c 40 students and the
people generally satisfied with me as teacher — ^yet I closed my school on the
29th July [1831] and on the 30th I mounted Tom"^ and left for Independence.
... [p. 1] ... Thence August the 18th I took breakfast in Independence (after

2. Samuel H. Smith and Reynolds Gaboon (Jenson 1971, 1:82).

3. Under the date 18 July 1831, McLeUin wrote in his journal:
“D[avid]. Whitmer then arose and bore testimony to having seen an Holy
Angel who had made known the truth of this record to him” (William E.
McLeUin, Journal, 18 July 1831, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City,
Utah). On David Whitmer (1805-88), see “Introduction to David Whitmer
CoUection.”

4. Tom was the name of his horse.

300

WILLIAM E. MCLELLIN TO SAMUEL MCLELLIN, 1832

having made about 450 miles from Paris). But to my sorrow I learned that
Jos. S[mith]. and 12 or 15 others had done their business and started to the
east again a few days before. But there had a church come on of about 60
from [New] York State and there were about a dozen Elders who had not
gone back. I examined the book, the people, the preachers, and the old
scriptures [Bible], and from the evidences which I had before me I was bound
to believe the book of Mormon to be a divine Revelation; and the people
to be Christians, consequently I joined them. And on the 24th I was ordained
an Elder in the church of Christ and on the 25th I started to the east with
brother Hiram Smith^ a brother to Joseph. ...

[s] Wm. E. & Emiline McLelin

5. On Hyrum Smith (1800-44), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 12.

301

11.

EBER D. HOWE ACCOUNT, 1834

E. D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed: or, A Faithful Account of That Singular
Imposition and Delusion, from Its Rise to the Present Time (Painesville, Ohio: E.
D. Howe, 1834), 11-13, 17-18, 19, 275-76.

EDITORIAL NOTE

In his 1834 book, Mormonism Unvailed, Eber D. Howe^ of Painesville,
Ohio, summarized what he had learned about Joseph Smith’s history in New
York and Vermont. His sources were Hurlbut’s affidavits, “various verbal
accounts,” and his own correspondence with readers of Abner Cole’s Palmyra
Reflector, if not Cole himself. Howe’s account of the plates being hid in a
barrel of beans, supported in later Mormon accounts, is perhaps an indication
of the reliability of some, if not ah, of his personal investigations. Chapter
headings have been omitted.

With the exception of their natural and peculiar habits of life, there is
nothing in the character of the Smith family worthy of being recorded,
previous to the time of their plot to impose upon the world by a pretended
discovery of a new Bible, in the bowels of the earth. They emigrated from
the town of Royalton, in the State of Vermont, about the year 1820, when
Joseph, Jun. was, it is supposed, about 16 years of age.^ We find them in the
town of Manchester, Ontario county, N.Y. which was the principal scene

1. On Eber D. Howe (1798-?), see “Introduction to Philastus Hurlbut
Collection.”

2. This statement is inaccurate. The Smiths emigrated from Norwich,
Vermont, probably in 1816-17, when Joseph Jr. was about ten or eleven
years old. Howe probably followed the statements of several Manchester resi¬
dents who said they had first become acquainted with the Smiths in 1820 (see
III.A.13, WILLIAM STAFFORD STATEMENT, 8 DEC 1833, 237;
III.A.14, WILLARD CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11 DEC 1833, 240;
IILA.2, BARTON STAFFOILD STATEMENT, 3 NOV 1833, 250;
IILA.15, HENRY HARRIS STATEMENT, CIRCA 1833; and IILA.4,
JOSHUA STAFFORD STATEMENT, 25 NOV 1833, 258). Howe evi¬
dently assumed 1820 was the date of the Smiths’ arrival in New York un¬
aware that they had lived about four years in the Village of Palmyra previous
to their move to Stafford Road.

302

EBER D. HOWE ACCOUNT, 1834

of their operations, till the year 1830. All who became intimate with them
during this period, unite in representing the general character of old Joseph
and wife, the parents of the pretended Prophet, as lazy, indolent, ignorant
and superstitious — having a firm belief in ghosts and witches; the telling of
fortunes; pretending to believe that the earth was filled with hidden treasures,
buried there by [Captain] Kad or the Spaniards. Being miserably poor, and
not much disposed to obtain an honest livelihood by labor, the energies of
their minds seemed to be mostly directed towards finding where these
treasures were concealed, and the best mode of acquiring their posses [p.
lljsion. Joseph, Jun. in the mean time, had become very expert in the arts
of necromancy, jugling, the use of the divining rod, and looking into what
they termed a “peep-stone,” by which means he soon collected about him
a gang of idle, credulous young men, to perform the labor of digging into
the hills and mountains, and other lonely places, in that vicinity, in search of
gold. In process of time many pits were dug in the neighborhood, which
were afterwards pointed out as the place from whence the plates were
excavated. But we do not learn that the young impostor ever entered these
excavations for the purpose of assisting his sturdy dupes in their labors. His
business was to point out the locations of the treasures, which he did by
looking at a stone placed in a hat. Whenever the diggers became dissatisfied
at not finding the object of their desires, his inventive and fertile genius would
generally contrive a story to satisfy them. For instance, he would tell them
that the treasure was removed by a spirit just before they came to it, or that
it sunk down deeper into the earth.

The extreme ignorance and apparent stupidity of this modern prophet,
were, by his early followers, looked upon as his greatest merit, and as furnish¬
ing the most incontestible proof of his divine mission. These have ever been
the ward-robe of impostors. They were even thrown upon the shoulders of
the great prince of deceivers, Mohammed, in order to carry in his train the
host of ignorant and superstitious of his time; although he afterwards became
a ruler of Nations. That the common advantages of education were denied
to our prophet, or that they were much neglected, we believe to be a fact.
His followers have told us, that he could not at the time he was “chosen of
the Lord,” even write his own name. But it is obvious that all those deficien¬
cies are fully supplied by a natural genius, strong inventive powers of mind,
a deep study, and an unusually correct esti[p. 12]mate of the human passions
and feelings. In short, he is now endowed with all the requisite traits of
character to pursue most successfully the humbug which he has introduced.
His address is easy, rather fascinating and winning, of a mild and sober de¬
portment, when not irritated. But he frequently becomes boisterous by the

303

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

impertinence or curiosity of the skeptical, and assumes the bravado, instead
of adhering to the meekness which he professes. His followers, of course, can
discover in his very countenance all the certain indications of a divine mis¬
sion.

For further illustrations of the character of the Smith family, the reader
is referred to the numerous depositions and certificates attached to this work.^
... [p. 13] ...^

The various verbal accounts, all contradictory, vague, and inconsistent,
which were given out by the Smith family respecting the finding of certain
Gold or brazen plates,^ will be hereafter presented in numerous depositions

3. This refers to the statements collected by Philastus Hurlbut (see
“Philastus Hurlbut Collection”).

4. Then follows brief sketches of the three witnesses (pp. 13-16; see
IILF.6, EBER D. HOWE ON MARTIN HARRIS, 1834; VI.A.l, EBER
D. HOWE ON DAVID WHITMER, 1834).

5. Certainly Howe was aware that several of Hurlbut’s witnesses men¬
tion Joseph Smith’s claim to have found “gold plates” (e.g., IILA.7, LUCY
HARRIS STATEMENT, 29 NOV 1833, 254, 255; IILA.9, PETER
INGERSOLL STATEMENT, 2 DEC 1833, 234, 236; IILA.13, WILLIAM
STAFFOILD STATEMENT, 8 DEC 1833, 239; III. A. 14, WILLARD
CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11 DEC 1833, 242, 245, 246, 247), as well
as the Palmyra Reflectors repeated references to the “Gold Bible” (see IILE.3,
PALMYRA REFLECTOR, 1829-1831, especiaUy under 19 March 1831,

126, from which Howe borrowed his description of the plates [VI.A.l,

EBER D. HOWE ON DAVID WHITMER, 1834]; see also Howe’s use of
the term on pages 37, 39, 100, 103). So why does Howe equivocate on the
metallic composition of the plates and later make reference to Nephi’s “plates
of brass” (e.g., 23)? Perhaps he is simply following Alexander Campbell’s
lead, who in his 1831 review of the Book of Mormon said, “Nephi made bra¬
zen plates soon after his arrival in America.” Then, in discussing the Testi¬
mony of Eight Witnesses, he says, “these ‘men handled as many of the brazen
or golden leaves as the said Smith translated’” (“The Mormonites,” Millennial
Harbinger 2 [Feb. 1831]: 87, 95). This statement is apparently a play on the
Testimony’s statement that the plates have the “appearance of gold” and “as
many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated, we did handle with our
hands.” I would suggest that Campbell and Howe were reflecting an early
Mormon apologetic that attempted to reconcile Smith’s statements that the
plates were made of gold and estimates that they only weighed between forty
and sixty pounds (e.g., I.D.4, WILLIAM SMITH, ON MORMONISM,

1883, 12; III.F.IO, MARTIN HARRIS INTERVIEW WITH JOEL TIF¬
FANY, 1859). From the beginning, this was a problem for the skeptical
(IILE.3, PALMYRA REFLECTOR, 1829-1831, under 19 Mar. 1831, 126).

A block of solid tin measuring 6x8x6 inches (the measurements Smith

304

EBER D. HOWE ACCOUNT, 1834

which have been taken in the neighborhood of the plot. — Since the
publication of the book they have been generally more uniform in their
relations respecting it. They say that some two years previous to the event
taking place, Joseph, Jun. began his interviews with Angels, or spirits, who
informed him of the wonderful plates, and the manner and time of obtaining
them. This was to be done in the presence of his wife and first child, which
was to be a son.^ In the month of September, 1827, Joseph got possession of
the plates, after a considerable struggle with a spirit. The remarkable event
was soon noised abroad, and the Smith family commenced making proselytes
among the credulous, and lovers of the marvellous, to the belief that Joseph
had found a record of the first settlers of America. Many profound calcula¬
tions were made about the amount of their profits on the sale of such a book.
A religious speculation does not seem to have seriously entered into their
heads at that time. The plates in the mean time were concealed from human
view, the prophet declaring that no man could look upon them and Hve.
They at the same time gave out that, along with the plates, was found a huge
pair of silver spectacles, altogether too large for the present race of men, but
which were to be used, nevertheless, in translating the plates, [p 17]

The translation finally commenced. They were found to contain a
language not now known upon the earth, which they termed “reformed
Egyptian characters.” The plates, therefore, which had been so much talked
of, were found to be of no manner of use. After ah, the Lord showed and
communicated to him every word and letter of the Book. Instead of looking
at the characters inscribed upon the plates, the prophet was obliged to resort

gave for the plates), or 288 cubic inches, would weigh 74.67 pounds. If one
allows for a 30 percent reduction due to the unevenness and space between
the plates, the package would then weigh 52.27 pounds. Using the same cal¬
culations, plates of gold would weigh 140.5 pounds. The obvious disparity be¬
tween the weight of the plates and gold may have prompted some early Mor¬
mons to equivocate on the plates’ material makeup. Much as the Testimony
of Eight Witnesses had emphasized “appearance of gold,” Cole, in the same
article cited above, reports David Whitmer describing the plates as being con¬
structed of “metal of a whitish yellow color.” Possibly Smith was aware of the
discrepancy much earlier and opened the way for equivocation by not having
the Book of Mormon commit itself on the material used to make the plates,
only that Nephi “did make plates of ore” (1 Ne. 19:1). This is in contradis¬
tinction to the book’s specific mention of “brass plates” brought by Nephi to
the New World (e.g., 1 Ne. 5:10, 18) and “plates of pure gold” discovered
by Limhi’s people (Mos. 8:9).

6. Apparently a distortion of V.B.l, JOSHUA MCKUNE STATE¬
MENT, 1834; and V.A.5, SOPHIA LEWIS STATEMENT, 1834.

305

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

to the old ‘‘peep stone,” which he formerly used in money-digging. This he
placed in a hat, or box, into which he also thrust his face. Through the stone
he could then discover a single word at a time, which he repeated aloud to
his amanuensis, who committed it to paper, when another word would
immediately appear, and thus the performance continued to the end of the
book.

Another account they give of the transaction, is, that it was performed
with the big spectacles before mentioned, and which were in fact, the
identical Urim and Thumim mentioned in Exodus 28-30, and were brought
away from Jerusalem by the heroes of the book, handed down from one
generation to another, and finally buried up in Ontario county, some fifteen
centuries since, to enable Smith to translate the plates without looking at themf

Before the work was completed, under the pretence that some persons
were endeavoring to destroy the plates and the prophet, they relate that the
Lord commanded them to depart into Pennsylvania, where they could
proceed unmolested. Smith, accordingly, removed his family thither; but it
appears that it was at the request of his father-in-law, instead of the command
of the Lord. A box, which he said contained the plates, was conveyed in a
barrel of beans, while on the journey.^ ... [p. 18] ...

The Golden Bible was finally got ready for the press, and issued in the
summer of 1830, nearly three years from the time of its being dug up. ... [p.
19] ...

The reader wiU already have observed, that a great variety of contra¬
dictory stories were related by the Smith family, before they had any fixed
plan of operation, respecting the finding of the plates, from which their book
was translated. One is, that after the plates were taken from [p. 275] their
hiding place by Jo, he again laid them down, looked into the hole, where
he saw a toad, which immediately transformed itself into a spirit, and gave
him a tremendous blow.^ Another is, that after he had got the plates, a spirit
assaulted him with the intention of getting them from his possession, and

7. This is incorrect. Smith claimed to have possessed the “Urim and
Thummim, which were given to the brother of Jared upon the mount, when
he talked with the Lord face to face” (D&C 17:1; Ether 3:23-28, 4:5). The
introduction of the term Urim and Thummim about 1832, and the inten¬
tional comparison with the Old Testament instrument mentioned in Exodus
28:30, have caused some understandable confusion (see LA.14, JOSEPH
SMITH ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS, 8 MAY 1838, n. 1).

8. See, e.g., LA.17, ORSON PRATT ACCOUNT, 1840, 13-14.

9. Compare IILA.14, WILLARD CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA
11 DEC 1833, 242.

306

EBER D. HOWE ACCOUNT, 1834

actually jerked them out of his hands — -Jo, nothing daunted, in return seized
them again, and started to run, when his Satanic Majesty, (or the spirit)
applied his foot to the prophet’s seat of honor, which raised him three or
four feet from the ground. ... That the prophet has related a story of this
kind, to some of his “weak saints,” we have no manner of doubt.^ ... [p.
276]

10. See “Joseph Smith Addendum,” under “7. James A. Briggs Ac¬
count, late March 1834 (Painesville, Ohio).”

307

12.

MARY A. NOBLE AUTOBIOGRAPHY,
CIRCA 1834-1836

“A Journal of Mary A. Noble,” 2-3, 4, 6, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake
City, Utah.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Mary Adeline Noble (1810-51), daughter of Alvah Be(a)nian and wife
of Joseph B. Noble, was born in Livonia, Livingston County, New York.
She began teaching school in 1828. The Beman family was early acquainted
with Joseph Smith, Sr., who occasionally visited them on their farm in
Livonia, and Mary’s father Alvah, a rodsman, participated in treasure search¬
ing near the Smiths’ Manchester home. In late June 1830 Samuel Smith
visited Livonia to preach the Book of Mormon (LB. 5, LUCY SMITH
HISTORY, 1845, 1853:152-53). In 1834 Mary married Joseph B. Noble,
and soon after they moved to Kirtland, Ohio. She died in Salt Lake City (see
Black 1987; Bitton 1977, 260).

The journal of Mary A. Noble is bound with her husband’s journal (see
IILK.13, JOSEPH B. NOBLE AUTOBIOGRAPHY, CIRCA 1834-1836).
This item is apparently in the hand of Mary A. Noble. Internal evidence
suggests that her autobiography was written probably about 1834-36.

Father [Alvah Beman] ^ sold his place in Levonia and removed with
his family to Avon[,] Livingston County[.] some years previous to this my
Father became acquainted with Father Joseph Smith the Father of the
Prophet [.] he frequently would go to Palmira to see Father Smiths and his
family during this time Brother Joseph Smith came in possession of the plates
which contained the Book of Mormon[.] [p. 2] as soon as it was noised
around that there was a golden Bible found (for that was what it was called
at that time) the minds of the people became so excited and it arose at such
a pitch that a mob collected together to search the house of Father Smith to
find the records [.] my father was there at the time and assisted in concealing
the plates in a box in a secluded place where no one could find them although

1. On Alvah Be(a)man (1775-1837), see LB.5, LUCY SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1845, n. 151.

308

MARY A. NOBLE AUTOBIOGRAPHY, CIRCA 1834-1836

he did not see them[.]^ my Father soon returned. ... [p. 3]

... Father Smith & Samuel had been to Fathers before this on business.

... [p.4]

... in the spring of 1834 Brother Joseph Smith came from Kirtland[,]
Ohio to my Fathers in [New] York State[,] Avon[,] Livingston Co: this was
the first time I ever beheld a Prophet of the Lord and I can truly say at the
first sight [p. 5] that I had a testimony within my own bosom that he was a
man chosen to God to bring forth a great work in the last days. ... [p. 6] ...

2. A few days after removing the plates from the hiU, Joseph Smith
brought the plates home and hid them under the hearth. Alvah Beman was
present and helped (see LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:67-68;
LB.2, SALLY PARKER TO JOHN KEMPTON, 26 AUG 1838; IILD.5,
CAROLINE ROCKWELL SMITH STATEMENT, 25 MAR 1885;
III.F.IO, MARTIN HARRIS INTERVIEW WITH JOEL TIFFANY,
1859, 166-67; IV.A.l, JOSEPH KNIGHT, SR., REMINISCENCE,
CIRCA 1835-1847; IILK.13, JOSEPH B. NOBLE AUTOBIOGRAPHY,
CIRCA 1834-1836; and V.D.7, RHAMANTHUS M. STOCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1887, 554-55; see also IILK.37, ELIZABETH KANE INTER¬
VIEW WITH BRIGHAM YOUNG, ARTEMISIA [BEAMAN] SNOW,
AND ORRIN ROCKWELL, 1872-1873).

309

13.

JOSEPH B. NOBLE AUTOBIOGRAPHY,
CIRCA 1834-1836

“Journal of Joseph B. Noble,” 11, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City,
Utah.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Joseph Bates Noble (1810-1900) was born in New York. He was
converted to Mormonism by Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball.
Concerning his conversion, Noble recalled: “I was baptized in the fall of
1832, as also some four or five others, who bore out testimony in favor of
the work of God, that he had commenced in these last days by revealing to
his servant, Joseph Smith, the keys of the Holy Priesthood, authorizing him
to build up his kingdom on the earth.” He married Mary A. Be(a)man in
1834, and soon after moved to Kirtland, Ohio. In 1835 he was called to the
First Quorum of Seventy. He moved to Missouri in 1838, then to Nauvoo,
Illinois, and finally to Utah. He died at Wardboro, Bear Lake County, Idaho
(Cook and Backman 1985, 96).

In his Autobiography, Noble recorded family tradition about his
father-in-law, Alvah Be(a)man, being present in Manchester (probably in
late September 1827) when Joseph Smith brought the plates home for the
first time and hid them under the hearth. Internal evidence suggests that
Noble wrote this autobiographical sketch about 1834-36. Compare III. K. 12,
MARY A. NOBLE AUTOBIOGILAPHY, CIRCA 1834-1836.

... My first introduction to this young woman [Mary A. Beman] was
at McMiUins my place of hording. She was teaching School in the neigh¬
borhood. her parents <Father> Alvah Beman^ lived about two 1/2 miles
distance [.] a man well off as to houses and land and goods of this world and
very highly esteemed among men for his word[.] this man [Alvah Beman]
was well acquainted with the Smith family before the coming forth of the
Book of Mormon, and was with Joseph at one time, assisting him in hiding

1. On Alvah Be(a)man (1775-1837), see LB.5, LUCY SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1845, n. 151.

310

JOSEPH B. NOBLE AUTOBIOGRAPHY, CIRCA 1834-1836

the plates from the mob.^ He was permitted to handle the plates with a cloth
coming over them. ... [p. 11]

2. See III.K.12, MARY A. NOBLE AUTOBIOGRAPHY, CIRCA
1834-1836, n. 2.

311

14.

JOHN Barber and Henry Howe Account,

1841

John W. Barber and Henry Howe, Historical Collection of the State of New York
(New York: S. Tutde, 1841), 580-81.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Barber and Howe introduce their account of early Mormonism with
the following claim: “The following account of [Joseph] Smith, and his
operations, is derived from authentic sources of information” (p. 580). That
Barber and Howe were the first to publish an account of George Crane’s
interview with Joseph Smith suggests that they had interviewed the
Palmyra/Manchester residents themselves.

Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, was born in Royalton, Vt.,^
and removed to Manchester, Ontario county, N.Y., about the year 1820,^
at an early age, with his parents, who were in quite humble circumstances.
He was occasionally employed in Palmyra as a laborer, and bore the
reputation of a lazy and ignorant young man. According to the testimony of
respectable individuals in that place. Smith and his father were persons of
doubtful moral character, addicted to disreputable habits, and moreover
extremely superstitious, believing in the existence of witchcraft. They at one
time procured a mineral rod, and dug in various places for money. Smith
testified that when digging he had seen the pot or chest containing the
treasure, but never was fortunate enough to get it into his hands. He placed
a singular looking stone in his hat, and pretended by the light of it to make
[p. 580] many wonderful discoveries of gold, silver, and other treasures,
deposited in the earth. He commenced his career as the founder of the new
sect when about the age of 18 or 19,^ and appointed a number of meetings

1. Joseph Smith was born in Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont.
Concerning the confusion about Smith’s birthplace, consult II.A.3, DANIEL
WOODWARD ACCOUNT, 1870.

2. This statement is inaccurate (see III. K. 11, EBER D. HOWE AC¬
COUNT, 1834, n. 2).

3. Smith was seventeen when he announced his discovery of the plates
in 1823, but he was twenty-four in 1830 when he published the Book of

312

JOHN BARBER AND HENRY HOWE ACCOUNT, 1841

in Palmyra, for the purpose of declaring the divine revelations which he said
were made to him. He was, however, unable to produce any excitement in
the village; but very few had curiosity sufficient to listen to him. Not having
the means to print his revelations, he applied to Mr. [George] Crane, of the
society of Friends, declaring that he was moved by the spirit to call upon him
for assistance. This gentleman bid him to go to work, or the state prison
would end his career.^ Smith had better success with Martin Harris,^ an
industrious and thrifty farmer of Palmyra, who was worth about $10,000,
and who became one of his leading disciples. By his assistance, 5,000 copies
of the Mormon Bible, (so called,) were published at an expense of about
$3,000. It is possible that Harris might have made the advances with the
expectation of a profitable speculation, as a great sale was anticipated. This
work is a duodecimo volume, containing 590 pages, and is perhaps one of
the weakest productions ever attempted to be palmed off as a divine
revelation. It is mostly a blind mass of words, interwoven with scriptural
language and quotations, without much of a leading plan or design. It is in
fact such a production as might be expected from a person of Smith’s abilities
and turn of mind. ...^

Mormon and founded his church.

4. George Crane, in his seventies, is listed in the 1830 census of Mace-
don, Wayne County, New York (1830:101). He does not appear in the 1840
census and may have died before the publication of the Barber and Howe ac¬
count. See also III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867; III.J.15,
STEPHEN S. HARDING TO THOMAS GITEGG, FEB 1882, 40.

5. Recorded before Smith’s murder in 1844, Barber and Howe’s ac¬
count of Quaker George Crane’s prediction — that “state prison would end
[Smith’s] career” — is probably more authentic than some later versions which
attempt to amend the prediction to fit historical reality. Pomeroy Tucker, for
instance, reported Crane as predicting Smith’s religious career “would be cer¬
tain to end in his death upon the gaUows, or in some equally ignominious
manner” (III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 37). Joseph
Rogers’s 1887 statement to Arthur Deming claimed that “Farmers said he
[Smith] was a terror to the neighborhood and that he would either have to
go to State prison, be hung, or leave the country, or he would be killed” (see
III.D.7, JOSEPH ROGERS STATEMENT, 16 MAY 1887). However,
Stephen S. Harding’s version was more vague, writing to Thomas Gregg in
1882 that Crane had said Smith’s career would have “some bad end” (see
III.J.15, STEPHEN S. HAPJDING TO THOMAS GREGG, FEB 1882, 40).

6. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

7. At this point. Barber and Howe quote the Title Page of the Book
of Mormon and Testimony of Eight Witnesses (see III. L. 12, BOOK OF

313

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

It is stated by persons in Palmyra, that when he exhibited these plates
to his followers, they were done up in a canvas bag, and Smith made the
declaration, that if they uncovered them, the Almighty would strike them
dead. It is said that no one but Smith could read what was engraved upon
them; which he was enabled to do by looking through a peculiar kind of
spectacles found buried with the plates. ...

MORMON COPYRIGHT, 11 JUN 1829; and IILL.13, TESTIMONY
OF EIGHT WITNESSES, JUN 1829).

314

15.

JAMES COLIN BREWSTER ACCOUNT, 1843

James Colin Brewster, Very Important! To the Mormon Money Diggers. Why do
the Mormons rage, and the People imagine a vain thing? ([Springfield, Illinois]:
N.p., [20 March 1843]), 2-3, 5.

EDITORIAL NOTE

James Colin Brewster (1826-?) was born in Black Rock, Erie County,
New York. His parents, Zephaniah and Jane, joined the LDS church in
Westfield, Chautaugua County, New York, in the early 1830s and soon after
removed to Kirtland, Ohio. During the conflict which followed the failure
of the Kirtland Bank in 1837, James began receiving spiritual manifestations
that culminated in the publication of The Words of Righteousness to All Men,
Written from One of the Books of Esaras [Esdras] in 1842. This purported
revelation criticized LDS church leaders and called the church to repentance.
Consequently Brewster and his followers were cut off from the church. In
1850 Brewster attempted to lead a small colony of believers to the promised
land of California to establish the revealed city of refuge for the saints. The
company traveled as far as New Mexico and disbanded. The last that is known
of him is a note in Stephen Post’s journal that he had baptized Brewster and
his wife Elizabeth in July 1867 into the organization headed by Sidney
Rigdon (Stephen Post, Journal, July 1867, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake
City, Utah; see also Vogel 1994).

On 1 December 1842 the Times and Seasons noted that Brewster’s Book
of Esdras was “assiduously circulated, in several branches of the church,” and
denounced it as “a perfect humbug.” The editor. Apostle John Taylor,
concluded by affirming institutional imperatives, quoting the revelation
Joseph Smith had produced in September 1830 to discredit revelations Hiram
Page had received through a stone. This revelation declared that Smith was
the only person appointed to receive revelation for the church (D&C 28:2).
Taylor instructed church members not to fellowship Brewster. According to
the editorial, Brewster “has professed for several years to have the gift of
seeing and looking through or into a stone; and has thought that he has
discovered money hid in the ground in Kirtland, Ohio. His father and some
of our weak brethren, who perhaps have had some confidence in the
ridiculous stories that are propagated concerning Joseph Smith, about money
digging, have assisted him in his foolish plans, for which they were dealt with

315

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

by the church” {Times and Seasons 4 [1 December 1842]:32).

In March 1843 Brewster responded to Taylor’s charges by publishing
a pamphlet addressed “To the Mormon Money Diggers.” While his denials
are not always convincing, Brewster’s account of Alvah Beman and Joseph
Smith, Sr., participating in treasure seeking in Kirtland and the latter’s
confessed involvement in the practice in New York is probably accurate.
Brewster’s account is followed by his father’s statement, which among other
things certified “that the above account of the money digging business is
true” and that “[i]n the year 1837, in the month of May or June, we
commenced the money digging under the kind care and protection ofjoseph
Smith sen’r, then first President of the church of Latter Day Saints” (p. 5).

... The fact is that my father ever regarded money diggers with the
utmost contempt, but believing in the Gospel as preached by the Mormons,
and, becoming a member of that church, removed to Kirtland, Ohio. While
residing at that place Joseph Smith Senr, the Prophet’s father, with others of
high standing in the church, came to see us, and stated that they knew there
was money hid in the earth, that it was our duty to assist in obtaining it, and
if we did not the curse of God would rest upon us. We were foolish enough
to believe them, not knowing at that time the weakness and folly of those
men. They also told us concerning their digging for money in the state of
N.Y., and [p. 2] that the places where the treasures were deposited were
discovered by means of the mineral rods and a seeing stone; likewise to
prevent the Devil deceiving them they anointed the mineral rods and seeing
stones with consecrated oil, and prayed over them in the house of the Lord
in Kirtland, and then sent a man into the state of N.Y. to obtain the money
that was supposed the mineral rods pointed out, but they found no treasure
and returned empty. Soon after this interview, I and my father were
requested by J[oseph]. Smith, Sen’r^ and Eld[er]. [Alvah] Beaman^ to come
to the house of the Lord. We went in and the door was locked; — after some
conversation with J[oseph]. Smith sen’r, Beaman and [Joshua] Holeman,^

1. On Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

2. On Alvah Be(a)man (1775-1837), see LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1845, n. 151.

3. Joshua Sawyer Holman (1794-1846) was born at Templetown,
Worchester County, Massachusetts. He lived in New York in the 1820s and
early 1830s, resided in Kirtland, Ohio, from 1836-38, and moved to northern
Missouri in 1838. He died at Winter Quarters, Douglas County, Nebraska
(Cook and Backman 1985, 88).

316

JAMES COLIN BREWSTER ACCOUNT, 1843

Eld[er]. Beaman called upon the Lord — they then proceeded to lay their
hands upon my head and pronounced a blessing upon me, in the name of
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and sealed it up on me by the power of the
Holy Priesthood, which they held, J[oseph]. Smith sen’r then acting as first
President of the Church in Kirtland. The prophetic blessing was that I should
be a Prophet, a Seer, a Revealer, and Translator, and that I should have power
given me of God to discover and obtain the treasures which are hid in the
earth. The men above mentioned, went with me and my father several times
in pursuit of the money, but it was not obtained. Joseph Smith sen’r and
Beaman, being old and feeble, thought best to remain in the Temple, while
the remainder of the party went to dig. John"^ and Asel Smith^ joined with
those who remained in the Temple to pray and continue their supplications
until a very late hour; this was repeated several times, and at length afraid of
being discovered in the Temple they retired to a barn in a remote part of the
town, and continued there the most part of the night, still no treasure was
obtained. By this time my father was convinced that we should not succeed,
and they gave up the business entirely. All this was carried on privately, being
understood only by those concerned. ... [p. 3] ... In Kirtland, Joseph Smith
sen’r, the Prophet’s father, said in Council: ‘T know more about money
digging, than any man in this generation, for I have been in the business
more than thirty years.” Father Smith, in private conversation with my father,
told many particulars, which happened in N.Y. where the money digging
business was carried on to a great extent by the Smith family. The writer of
the article in the “Times and Seasons” calls it a ridiculous and pernicious
practice. I would ask him who was the author of this practice among the
Mormons? If he has a good memory, he will remember the house that was
rented in the city of Boston [Salem], with the expectation of finding a large
sum of money buried in or near the cellar.^ If he has forgotten these things,
I have not. And, if he is not satisfied with what I have written, he can have
the remainder shortly. ... [p. 4] ...

4. On John Smith (1781-1854), see introduction to LG. 2, JOHN
SMITH AUTOBIOGILAPHY, 20 JUL 1839.

5. On Asael Smith, Jr. (1773-1848), see LB.5, LUCY SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1845, n. 17.

6. A number of independent sources implicate Joseph Smith and other
church leaders in a treasure-seeking excursion to Salem, Massachusetts, in Au¬
gust 1836, presumably as a means of relieving economic pressure on the
church. See The Return (Davis City, Iowa), 1:1:105-6; Joseph Smith to Emma
Smith, 19 August 1836, in Saints' Herald 26 (1 December 1879): 357; Proper
1964; R. L. Anderson 1984, 499-506; Godfrey 1984; and Cannon 1984.

317

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

I have written the above that the people may know who the “weak
brethren” are that assisted us in the money digging business. The Mormons
may deny it, but every word it contains is true; and I might have written
much more, but I think it unnecessary. But if the Mormons publish another
line of falsehood concerning us, they shall have the history of the money
diggers from the beginning. ...

JAMES COLIN BREWSTER.

318

16.

PARLEY P. PILATT AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PART I),

CIRCA 1854

Parley P. Pratt, The Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, ed. Parley P. Pratt, Jr.
(New York: Russell Brothers, 1874), 36-42, 46-47, 49.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Parley P. Pratt (1807-57) was born in Burlington, Otsego County, New
York. He married Thankful Halsey in 1827 in Canaan, Columbia County,
New York. Prior to his conversion, he was a CampbeUite minister in
northern Ohio. He was baptized and ordained an elder about 1 September
1830 in Fayette, New York. The following month Pratt, with Oliver
Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, Jr., and Ziba Peterson, left on a mission to the
Indian tribes in Missouri. On the way Pratt and the others stopped and
preached in the Kirtland, Ohio, area, converting Sidney Rigdon and most
of his congregation. Following his ordination as an apostle in February 1835,
Pratt became a prolific writer and pamphleteer. A decade after his immigra¬
tion to the Great Salt Lake VaUey in 1847, Pratt was murdered by an enraged
and jealous husband at Van Buren, Crawford County, Arkansas (L. Cook
1981, 45-47; Jessee 1989, 507).

In May 1854 Pratt started his second mission in Cahfornia, during
which time he apparently began writing his Autobiography. Regarding work
on his life’s story, Pratt wrote: “I devoted the time I could spare from the
ministry to writing my history. ... Some time in August [1854], Elders George
Q. Cannon, J. Howkins, Bigler and Farran, of the Island Mission, landed,
and Brother Cannon assisted me some forty days in copying my autobiog¬
raphy” (Pratt 1874, 409). After his return to Salt Lake City on 27 June 1856,
he mentions that he spent time “writing my history, assisted by my wife
Kenzia, as copyist” (ibid., 432). Following Pratt’s death in 1857, John Taylor
assisted Pratt’s son. Parley P. Pratt, Jr., in editing the manuscript for
publication. The following excerpt tells of Parley Sr.’s conversion.

... In August, 1830, I had closed my business, completed my arrange¬
ments, and we bid adieu to our wilderness home and never saw it afterwards.

On settling up, at a great sacrifice of property, we had about ten dollars
left in cash. With this small sum, we launched forth into the world.

319

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

determining first to visit our native place, on our mission, and then such
other places as I might be led to by the Holy Spirit.

We made our way to Cleveland [Ohio], 30 miles. We then took passage
on a schooner for Buffalo [New York], a distance of 200 miles. We had a
fair wind, and the captain, being short of hands, gave me the helm, the sails
being all set, and turned in. I steered the vessel the most of the day, with no
other person on deck. Of course, our passage cost us little besides my labor.
Landing in Buffalo, we engaged our passage for Albany [New York] on a
canal boat, distance 360 miles. This, including board, cost all our money and
some articles of clothing.

Arriving at Rochester [New York], I informed my wife that, notwith¬
standing our passage being paid through the whole distance, yet I must leave
the boat and her to pursue her passage to our friends; while I would stop
awhile in this region. Why, I did not know; but so it was plainly manifest
by the Spirit to me. I said to her, “we part [p. 36] for a season; go and visit
our friends in our native place; I will come soon, but how soon I know not;
for I have a work to do in this region of country, and what it is, or how long
it will take to perform it, I know not; but I will come when it is performed.”

My wife would have objected to this; but she had seen the hand of God
so plainly manifest in His dealings with me many times, that she dare not
oppose the things manifest to me by His spirit.

She, therefore, consented; and I accompanied her as far as Newark
[New York], a small town upwards of 100 miles from Buffalo, and then took
leave of her, and of the boat.

It was early in the morning, just at the dawn of day, I walked ten miles
into the country, and stopped to breakfast with a Mr. Wells. ^ I proposed to
preach in the evening. Mr. Wells readily accompanied me through the
neighborhood to visit the people, and circulate the appointment.

We visited an old Baptist deacon by the name of Hamlin.^ After hearing
of our appointment for evening, he began to tell of a book, a STPJVNGE
BOOK, a VERY STPJVNGE BOOK! in his possession, which had been
just published. This book, he said, purported to have been originally written
on plates either of gold or brass, by a branch of the tribes of Israel; and to
have been discovered and translated by a young man near Palmyra, in the
State of New Y ork, by the aid of visions, or the ministry of angels. I inquired
of him how or where the book was to be obtained. He promised me the
perusal of it, at his house the next day, if I would call. I felt a strange interest

1 . This person remains unidentified.

2. This person remains unidentified.

320

PARLEY P. PRATT AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PART I), CIRCA 1854

in the book. I preached that evening to a small audience, who appeared to
be interested in the truths which I endeavored to unfold to them in a clear
and lucid manner from the Scriptures. Next morning I called at his house,
where, for the first time, my eyes beheld the “BOOK OF MORMON,” —
that book [p. 37] of books — that record which reveals the antiquities of the
''New World'’ back to the remotest ages, and which unfolds the destiny of its
people and the world for all time to come; — that Book which contains the
fulness of the gospel of a crucified and risen Redeemer; — that Book which
reveals a lost remnant of Joseph, and which was the principal means, in the
hands of God, of directing the entire course of my future life.

I opened it with eagerness, and read its title page. I then read the
testimony of several witnesses in relation to the manner of its being found
and translated. After this I commenced its contents by course. I read all day;
eating was a burden, I had no desire for food; sleep was a burden when the
night came, for I preferred reading to sleep.

As I read, the spirit of the Lord was upon me, and I knew and
comprehended that the book was true, as plainly and manifestly as a man
comprehends and knows that he exists. My joy was now full, as it was, and
I rejoiced sufficiently to more than pay me for all the sorrows, sacrifices and
toils of my life. I soon determined to see the young man who had been the
instrument of its discovery and translation.

I accordingly visited the village of Palmyra, and inquired for the
residence of Mr. Joseph Smith. I found it some two or three miles from the
village. As I approached the house at the close of the day I overtook a man
who was driving some cows, and inquired of him for Mr. Joseph Smith, the
translator of the "Book of Mormon." He informed me that he now resided in
Pennsylvania; some one hundred miles distant. I inquired for his father, or
for any of the family. He told me that his father had gone a journey^; but
that his residence was a small house just before me; and, said he, I am his
brother. It was Mr. Hyrum Smith. I informed him of the interest I felt in
the Book, and of my desire to learn more about it. He welcomed me [p. 38]
to his house, and we spent the night together; for neither of us felt disposed
to sleep. We conversed most of the night, during which I unfolded to him

3. Joseph Smith, Sr., and Don Carlos were in St. Lawrence County,
New York, visiting relatives (see LG. 4, GEORGE A. SMITH REMINIS¬
CENCES, 1846, 1857 & CIRCA 1858; and LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1845, 1853:154, 157).

4. On Hyrum Smith (1800-44), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 12.

321

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

much of my experience in my search after truth, and my success so far;
together with that which I felt was lacking, viz: a commissioned priesthood,
or apostleship to minister in the ordinances of God.

He also unfolded to me the particulars of the discovery of the Book;
its translation; the rise of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, and the commis¬
sion of his brother Joseph, and others, by revelation and the ministering of
angels, by which the apostleship and authority had been again restored to
the earth. After duly weighing the whole matter in my mind I saw clearly
that these things were true; and that myself and the whole world were
without baptism, and without the ministry and ordinances of God; and that
the whole world had been in this condition since the days that inspiration
and revelation had ceased — in short, that this was a new dispensation or
commission, in fulfilment of prophecy, and for the restoration of Israel, and
to prepare the way before the second coming of the Lord.

In the morning I was compelled to take leave of this worthy man and
his family — as I had to hasten back a distance of thirty miles, on foot, to fulfill
an appointment in the evening. As we parted he kindly presented me with
a copy of the Book of Mormon. I had not yet completed its perusal, and was
glad indeed to possess a copy of my own. I travelled on a few miles, and,
stopping to rest, I commenced again to read the book. To my great joy I
found that Jesus Christ, in his glorified resurrected body, had appeared to the
remnant of Joseph on the continent of America, soon after his resurrection
and ascension into heaven; and that he also administered, in person, to the
ten lost tribes; and that through his personal ministry in these countries his
gospel was revealed and written in countries and among nations entirely
unknown to the Jewish apostles, [p. 39]

Thus revealed, written, handed down and preserved, till revealed in
this age by the angels of God, it had, of course, escaped the corruptions of
the great and abominable church; and been preserved in purity.

This discovery greatly enlarged my heart, and filled my soul with joy
and gladness. I esteemed the Book, or the information contained in it, more
than all the riches of the world. Yes; I verily believe that I would not at that
time have exchanged the knowledge I then possessed, for a legal title to all
the beautiful farms, houses, villages and property which passed in review
before me, on my journey through one of the most flourishing settlements
of western New York.

Surely, thought I, Jesus had other sheep, as he said to his Apostles of old
[John 10:16]; and here they were, in the wilderness of the world called new.
And they heard the voice of the Good Shepherd of Israel; and he brought
them to his fold. Truly, thought I, he was not sent (in person) save to the

322

PARLEY P. PRATT AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PART I), CIRCA 1854

lost sheep of the house of Israel, as he told the woman of Canaan [Matthew
15:24]; and here were a portion of them. Truly, thought I, the angels sung
with the spirit and with the understanding when they declared: “ We bring
you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to ALL PEOPLE [Luke 2:10].”

In his mortal tabernacle he confined his ministry and that of his Apostles
to the land of Judea; but afterwards, released from the bonds of mortal life,
or rather death, and clothed with an immortal body, and with organs strong
and lasting as the immortal mind, he possessed all power in heaven and on
earth; he was then enabled to extend his ministry to heaven, earth or hell.
He could take the wings of the morning, and, with the speed of light, make
his way to the Heaven of Heavens; and converse and counsel among the sons
of God; or receive counsel from his Father in Heaven; or, leaving again the
starry worlds, he could descend to the dark and gloomy abodes of the [p. 40]
spirits in prison and preach to them the gospel — bursting off their shackles
and unlocking their prison doors; while these once dark abodes were now
brilliant with light, and, instead of prison groans, were heard joyful acclama¬
tions of deliverance to the captive, and the opening of the prison to them
that are bound; or coming again to visit the earth, he could soar away beyond
the waves and tempests, which had before set bounds to the geographical
knowledge of man, and stood up as an impregnable barrier to the intercourse
of nations; and there, in other tribes and tongues, make known the riches of
his grace, and his triumph over death.

And when ages had passed, and nations slumbered in the dust — when
cruelty and bloodshed had blotted almost every trace of priesthood and
apostleship from the earth; when saints had been worn out and overcome;
times, laws and ordinances changed; the Bible itself robbed of its plainness;
and all things darkened and corrupted; a pure and faithful record of his
ministry to other nations is forthcoming from among the archives of the dead,
to reveal the ''mystery of iniquity f to speak, as with a voice of thunder, in
rebuking the evil and revealing the fulness of the gospel. Such was the Book
of Mormon — such its effect upon the startling nations, [p. 41]

Having rested awhile and perused this sacred book by the roadside, I
again walked on.

In the evening I arrived in time to fiU my appointment. I met a crowded
house, and laid before them many interesting truths, which were listened to
with deep interest.

The next evening I had another appointment, and the people came out
in great numbers, and were filled with the spirit of interest and inquiry.

They urged me very much to continue my discourses among them;
but I felt to minister no more tiU I had attended to some important duties

323

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

for myself. I had now found men on earth commissioned to preach, baptize,
ordain to the ministry, etc., and I determined to obey the fulness of the gospel
without delay. I should have done so at the first interview with Elder Hyrum
Smith; but these two appointments were already out, and thirty miles’ travel
required all the time I had.

I now returned immediately to Hyrum Smith’s residence, and de¬
manded baptism at his hands. I tarried with him one night, and the next day
we walked some twenty-five miles to the residence of Mr. [Peter] Whitmer,^
in Seneca County. Here we arrived in the evening, and found a most
welcome reception, [p. 42] ...^

Renewed in spirit and filled with joy I now pursued my way, and
arrived at my aunt [Lovina] Van Cott’s,^ not weary, but refreshed with a
long walk, and deep communion with myself and God.

Having lifted a warning voice to multitudes in all this region of country,
I now took leave, and repaired again to the western part of New York, and
to the body of the Church.

On our arrival, we found that brother Joseph Smith, the translator of
the Book of Mormon, had returned from Pennsylvania to his father’s
residence in Manchester, near Palmyra, and here I had the pleasure of seeing
him for the first time.^

He received me with a hearty welcome, and with that frank and kind
manner so universal with him in after years.

On Sunday we held meeting at his house; the two [p. 46] large rooms
were filled with attentive listeners, and he invited me to preach. I did so, and
afterwards listened with interest to a discourse from his own mouth, filled
with intelligence and wisdom. We repaired from the meeting to the water’s
edge, and, at his request, I baptized several persons.^

5. On Peter Whitmer, Sr. (1773-1854), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 59.

6. For Pratt’s experience in Fayette, New York, see VLF.6, PARLEY
P. PILATT AUTOBIOGILAPHY (PART II), CIRCA 1854.

7. Lovina Van Cott, sister of Parley’s father, Jared Pratt, was born on 6
August 1787 at Canaan, Columbia County, New York (E. Watson 1975, 3).

8. Joseph and Emma Smith apparently arrived at Manchester in early
October 1830 (see LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, 1853:159, 166-
67). In 1858 Pratt recalled: “Returning to western New York the same
autumn, I saw for the first time Joseph Smith, the Prophet, at his father’s
house, in Manchester” (Parley P. Pratt, “History of Parley P. Pratt,” Deseret
News 8 [19 May 1858]: 53).

9. Probably Ezra Thayre, Northrop Sweet, and Oliver Cowdery’s step¬
mother Keziah Pearce Cowdery (IILJ.6, EZRJV THAYPT! P^MINIS-

324

PARLEY P. PRATT AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PART I), CIRCA 1854

President Joseph Smith was in person tall and well built, strong and
active; of a light complexion, light hair, blue eyes, very little beard, and of
an expression peculiar to himself, on which the eye naturally rested with
interest, and was never weary of beholding. His countenance was ever mild,
affable, beaming with intelligence and benevolence; mingled with a look of
interest and an uncon[s]cious smile, or cheerfulness, and entirely free from
all restraint or affectation of gravity; and there was something connected with
the serene and steady penetrating glance of his eye, as if he would penetrate
the deepest abyss of the human heart, gaze into eternity, penetrate the
heavens, and comprehend all worlds.

He possessed a noble boldness and independence of character; his
manner was easy and familiar; his rebuke terrible as the lion; his benevolence
unbounded as the ocean; his intelligence universal, and his language abound¬
ing in original eloquence peculiar to himself — not polished — not studied —
not smoothed and softened by education and refined by art; but flowing forth
in its own native simplicity, and profusely abounding in variety of subject
and manner. He interested and edified, while, at the same time, he amused
and entertained his audience; and none listened to him that were ever weary
with his discourse. ... [p. 47]

It was now October, 1830. A revelation had been given through the
mouth of this Prophet, Seer and Translator, in which Elders Oliver Cow-
dery,^^ Peter Whitmer,^^ Ziba Peterson^^ and myself were appointed to go
into the wilderness, through the western States, and to the Indian territory.
Making arrangements for my wife in the family of the Whitmers, we took

CENCE, 1862, 82-83). These baptisms may have occurred on Sunday, 10
October 1830, as Thayre says he was baptized by Pratt on the Sunday follow¬
ing Smith’s arrival in Manchester (see note 8 above). In 1858 Pratt recalled
that he “heard him [Joseph Smith] preach, and preached in his [father’s]
house, at the close of which meeting we baptized seven persons” (Parley P.
Pratt, “History of Parley P. Pratt,” Deseret News 8 [19 May 1858]: 53). DoUy
Proper and perhaps her husband George may have been among the four un¬
identified persons baptized, probably by Oliver Cowdery (see III.B.12,
LORENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884, 13 [back]; IILB.15,
LORENZO SAUNDERS INTERVIEW, 12 NOV 1884, 7; IILJ.8,
POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 38).

10. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow¬
dery Collection.”

11. On Peter Whitmer, Jr. (1809-36), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 63.

12. On Richard Ziba Peterson (?-1849), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 105.

325

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

leave of our friends and the church late in October, and started on foot.

After travelling for some days we called on an Indian nation at or near
Buffalo; and spent part of a day with them, instructing them in the knowledge
of the record of their forefathers. We were kindly received, and much interest
was manifested by them on hearing this news. We made a present of two
copies of the Book of Mormon to certain of them who could read, and
repaired to Buffalo. Thence we continued our journey, for about two
hundred miles, and at length called on Mr. [Sidney] Rigdon,^"^ my former
friend and instructor, in the Reformed Baptist Society. ... [p. 49] ...

13. Because the four men signed a document known as the “Missionar¬
ies Covenant,” dated 17 October 1830, in Manchester, New York, it is gen¬
erally assumed that they left for the west from that location (III. L. 22, MIS¬
SIONARIES COVENANT, 17 OCT 1830); however, Pratt stated else¬
where: “We started this mission in October, 1830. From Father Whitmer’s,

in western New York, we travelled nearly fifteen hundred miles ...” (Parley
P. Pratt, “History of Parley P. Pratt,” Deseret News 8 [19 May 1858]: 53). Ac¬
tually the Lamanite Mission was organized during the 26-28 September 1830
conference held at the Whitmer home in Fayette, New York, and Pratt may
have therefore had this event as a reference point rather than imply the mis¬
sionaries had returned to Fayette before leaving for the west. Pratt had pre¬
viously said his journey to Ohio began on 15 October 1830 (P. Pratt 1838,
41), although the “Missionaries Covenant” was signed two days later.

14. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to LA. 13, SID¬
NEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

326

17.

Thurlow Weed Reminiscences,

1854, 1858, 1880 & 1884

1. [Thurlow Weed], “The Beginning of Mormonism,” Albany
Evening Journal (31 July 1854). Reprinted in New York Times 3
(3 August 1854).

2. [Thurlow Weed], “Prospect of Peace with Utah,” Albany Evening
Journal 29 (19 May 1858): 2.

3. [Thurlow Weed], “From the Troy Times,” Albany Evening Journal 29
(21 May 1858): 2.

4. Thurlow Weed to EUen E. Dickinson, 12 April 1880, in EUen E.
Dickinson, New Light on Mormonism . . . With Introduction by Thurlow
Weed (New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1885), 260-61.

5. Thurlow Weed, Autobiography of Thurlow Weed, ed. Harriet A.

Weed (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1884), 358-59.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Thurlow Weed (1797-1882) was born in Green County, New
York. After editing various papers between 1817 and 1821, he became
editor of the Rochester Telegraph in 1821 and owner in 1825. Following
the murder of William Morgan in 1826, Weed became a leading anti-
Mason and in 1828 began editing the Anti-Masonic Enquirer, which sup¬
ported John Quincy Adams for president. In 1829 he was elected to
the New York State Assembly in Albany, where for three decades he
edited the Albany Evening Journal (1830-60). In 1867 he became editor
of the New York Commercial Advertiser. He died at New York City
{Who Was Who in America, 1967, 640).

In June 1829 Joseph Smith approached Egbert B. Grandin to publish
the Book of Mormon, but Grandin declined. Smith next appealed to
Thurlow Weed of Rochester, who also rejected the offer. When Elihu F.
Marshall of Rochester apparently expressed a willingness to publish the book,
Martin Harris visited Grandin a second time and assured him that the Book

327

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

of Mormon would be printed in Rochester if he again declined to do the
work. Through the encouragement of friends, and Harris’s willingness to
mortgage his farm, Grandin finally agreed to print the Book of Mormon in
Palmyra (see IILH.8, JOHN H. GILBERT STATEMENT, 23 OCT 1887;
IILH.IO, JOHN H. GILBERT MEMORANDUM, 8 SEP 1892; IILJ.5,
POMEROY TUCKER REMINISCENCE, 1858; and IILJ.8,
POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 52). The following sources
report Weed’s brief encounter with Joseph Smith and Martin Harris.

[T Article, 1854]

Twenty-eight years ago JOE SMITH, the founder of this sect, and
[Martin] HARRIS, his first convert, applied to the senior editor of the
Journal, then residing in Rochester, to print his “Book of Mormon,” then
just transcribed from the “Golden Bible” which JOE had found in the cleft
of a rock to which he had been guided by a vision.

We attempted to read the first chapter, but it seemed such unintelligible
jargon that it was thrown aside. JOE was a tavern idler in the village of
Palmyra. HARRIS, who offered to pay for the printing, was a substantial
farmer. Disgusted with what we considered a “weak invention” of an
imposter, and not caring to strip HARRIS of his hard earnings, the
proposition was declined.^

The manuscript was then taken to another printing office across the
street, from whence, in due time, the original “Mormon Bible” made its
advent.

“Tall trees from little acorns grow,”

But who would have anticipated from such a bald, shallow, senseless
imposition, such world wide consequences? To remember and contrast JOE
SMITH, with his loafer-look, pretending to read from a miraculous slate-
stone placed in his hat, with the Mormonism of the present day, awakens
thoughts alike painful and mortifying. There is no limit, even in this most
enlightened of all the ages of knowledge, to the influence of imposture and
credulity. If knaves, or even fools, invent creeds, nothing is too monstrous

1. In a subsequent statement. Weed explained another reason for re¬
jecting Smith’s offer to print the Book of Mormon: “But as we were only in
the newspaper line, we contented ourself with reading a chapter of what
seemed such wretched and incoherent stupidity, that we wondered how Joe’
had contrived to make the first fool with it” {Oxford [New York] Times 8 [18
December 1875]: 2, reprinting from the Albany Evening Journal).

328

THURLOW WEED REMINISCENCES, 1854, 1858, 1880 & 1884

for belief. Nor does the fact — a fact not denied or disguised — that all the
Mormon leaders are rascals as well as imposters, either open the eyes of their
dupes or arrest the progress of delusion.

[2. Article, 1858a]

... Within our recollection, Mormonism was “a speck, not bigger than
a man’s hand.” The original Imposter, JOE SMITH, came to the writer of
this article, only thirty-two years ago, with the manuscript of his Mormon
Bible, to be Printed. He then had but one follower, (a respectable and
wealthy Farmer of the Town of Macedon) who offered himself as security
for the Printing. But after reading a few Chapters, it seemed such a jumble
of unintelligible absurdities, that we refused the work, advising HARRIS
not to mortgage his Farm and beggar his Family. But JOE crossed over the
way to our neighbor ELIHU F. MARSHALL,^ and got his “Mormon Bible”
printed.^ ...

[3. Article, 1858b]

From the Troy Times.

Mr. Elihu F. Marshall did not print the Mormon Bible. It was printed
by Mr. Egbert Grandin, (now deceased,) at the office of the Wayne Sentinel,
Palmyra. We happen to know this fact. Mr. John Gilbert,"^ now residing at
Palmyra, did all the press-work, and a portion of the type-setting on the
Bible. If Mr. Weed doubts this, we can show him a copy of the Mormon
Bible with the imprint.^

We have no right to “doubt” the correctness of this statement, though
we were strongly impressed with the belief that our Quaker neighbor,
MARSHALL, printed the first edition of the Mormon Bible. Was not the
Book referred to by the Editor of the Times, a portion only of what became

2. On Elihu F. Marshall, see IILJ.5, POMEROY TUCKER FLEMI-
NISCENCE, 1858, n. 6.

3. Weed’s mistaken claim that Elihu F. Marshall published the Book of
Mormon was corrected by the Troy (New York) Times, 20 May 1858,
quoted in Weed’s article below, as weU as Pomeroy Tucker (see IILJ.5,
POMEROY TUCKER REMINISCENCE, 1858).

4. On John H. Gilbert (1802-95), see “Introduction to John H. Gil¬
bert Collection.”

5. This paragraph was taken from the Troy Times, 20 May 1858, which
begins: “H// this is not within your ‘recollection,’ Mr. Weed. ...” The follow¬
ing paragraph is Weed’s statement.

329

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

the Mormon Bible? When JOE SMITE! called on us he professed to read
fresh revelations from a miraculous Tablet deposited in his ELat. WiU the
Editor of the Troy Times oblige us with the copy of the Book it refers to?
It can be sent and will be carefully returned, by Express?^

[4. Letter, 1880]

NEW YORK, April 12, 1880.

In 1825,^ when I was publishing the Rochester Telegraph, a man intro¬
duced himself to me as Joseph Smith, of Palmyra, N.Y., whose object, he
said, was to get a book published. He then stated he had been guided by a
vision to a spot he described, where, in a cavern, he found what he called a
golden Bible. It consisted of a tablet, which he placed in his hat, and from
which he proceeded to read the first chapter of the “Book of Mormon.”

I listened until I became weary of what seemed to me an incompre¬
hensible jargon. I then told him I was only publishing a newspaper, and that
he would have to go to a book publisher, suggesting a friend who was in
that business. A few days afterward Smith called again, bringing a substantial
farmer with him, named Harris, [p. 260] Smith renewed his request that I
should print his book, adding that it was a divine revelation, and would be
accepted, and that he would be accepted by the world as a prophet. Supposing
that I had doubts as to his being able to pay for the publishing, Mr. Harris,
who was a convert, offered to be his security for payment. Meantime I had
discovered that Smith was a shrewd, scheming fellow, who passed his time
at taverns and stores in Palmyra, without business, and apparently without
visible means of support. He seemed about thirty years of age, was compactly
built, about five feet eight inches in height, had regular features, and would
impress one favorably in conversation. His book was afterward published in
Palmyra. I knew the publisher, but cannot at this moment remember his
name.^ The first Mormon newspaper was published at Canandaigua, New
York, by a man named Phelps,^ who accompanied Smith as an apostle to

6. See IILJ.5, POMEROY TUCKER REMINISCENCE, 1858, for
Tucker’s comments about Weed’s exchange with the Troy Times.

7. Dickinson reports that Weed later said “that he was mistaken as to
the year 1825; that it must have been two or three years later” (Dickinson
1885, 41).

8. Egbert B. Grandin (1806-45) (see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 77).

9. On William W. Phelps (1792-1872), see introduction to IILG.6,
OLIVER COWDERY TO W. W. PHELPS, 7 SEP 1834. Prior to his con¬
version in 1831, Phelps edited the Ontario Phoenix, an anti-Masonic paper

330

THURLOW WEED REMINISCENCES, 1854, 1858, 1880 & 1884

Illinois, where the first Mormon city, Nauvoo, was started.

(Signed) THURLOW WEED.

[5. Autobiography, 1884]

... About 1829 a stout, round, smooth-faced young man, between
twenty-five and thirty, with the air and manners of a person [p. 358] without
occupation, came into the “Rochester Telegraph” office and said he wanted
a book printed, and added that he had been directed in a vision to a place in
the woods near Palmyra, where he resided, and that he found a “golden
Bible,” from which he was directed to copy the book which he wanted
published. He then placed what he called a “tablet” in his hat, from which
he read a chapter of the “Book of Mormon,” a chapter which seemed so
senseless that I thought the man either crazed or a very shallow impostor,
and therefore declined to become a publisher, thus depriving myself of
whatever notoriety might have been achieved by having my name imprinted
upon the title-page of the first Mormon Bible.

It is scarcely necessary to add that this individual was Joseph Smith, the
founder of the Mormon creed. On the day but one following he came again,
accompanied by Martin Harris, a substantial farmer residing near Palmyra,
who had adopted the Mormon faith, and who offered to become security
for the expense of printing. But I again declined, and he subsequently found
a publisher in E. B. Grandin, of Palmyra, in 1830.

published at Canandaigua, New York. This paper was not a Mormon publica¬
tion. Phelps, however, did pubHsh the first Mormon paper. The Evening and
The Morning Star (1832-33) at Independence, Missouri.

331

18.

THOMAS FORD ACCOUNT, 1854

Thomas Ford, A History of Illinois^ from Its Commencement As a State in 1818
to 1847 (Chicago: S. C. Griggs and Co., 1854), 256-58.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Thomas Ford (1800-50) was born at Uniontown, Fayette County,
Pennsylvania. After passing the Illinois state bar in 1823 and practicing law
for several years, he served as judge of the circuit court in northern Ilhnois
(1835-37), and then in the Galena district (1839). In 1841 he was appointed
to the supreme court of Illinois, and the following year elected governor.
He died in Peoria, Illinois (Jessee 1992, 545).

In 1854 Ford published A History of Illinois, which included a brief
sketch of the rise of Mormonism in New York. The major portion of Ford’s
account of Mormonism came from previously published sources and is
therefore excluded from the present excerpt. Unique to Ford’s account,
however, is his version of the eight witnesses seeing the Book of Mormon
plates in Manchester, New York, which Ford claimed came from “men who
were once in the confidence of the prophet.” Unfortunately, Ford did not
name his sources,^ but his account is strangely similar to the claims of dissident
Mormons in Ohio and Missouri in 1838, one of whom quoted Martin Harris
as saying that the three witnesses saw the plates with “spiritual eyes” and that
the eight witnesses “never saw them” with their physical eyes (see III.F.7,
STEPHEN BURNETT TO LYMAN E. JOHNSON, 15 APR 1838; see
also introduction to III.L.13, TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES,
JUN 1829).

... And the prophet was not without his witnesses. Oliver Cowd-
ney [Cowdery],^ Martin Harris,^ and Daniel Whiteman [David Whit-

1. For this reason Fawn Brodie was perhaps mistaken to place so much
weight on Ford’s account (Brodie 1945, 79-80; see also R. L. Anderson
1981, 159-61).

2. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

3. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

332

THOMAS FORD ACCOUNT, 1854

mer],"^ solemnly certify “that we have seen the plates which contain the
records; that they were translated by the gift and power of God, for
his voice hath declared it unto us, wherefore we know of a surety that
the work is true; and we declare with words of soberness that an angel
of God came down from heaven and brought and laid before our eyes,
that we beheld and saw the plates and the engravings thereon.”^ Eight
other witnesses certify that “Joseph Smith, the translator, had shown
them the plates spoken [p. 256] of, which had the appearance of gold;
and as many of the plates as the said Smith had translated, they did
handle with their hands, and they also saw the engravings thereon, all
of which had the appearance of ancient work and curious workman¬
ship.”^

The most probable account of these certificates is, that the witnesses
were in the conspiracy, aiding the imposture; but I have been informed by
men who were once in the confidence of the prophet, that he privately gave
a different account of the matter. It is related that the prophet’s early followers
were anxious to see the plates; the prophet had always given out that they
could not be seen by the carnal eye, but must be spiritually discerned; that
the power to see them depended upon faith, and was the gift of God, to be
obtained by fasting, prayer, mortification of the flesh, and exercises of the
spirit; that so soon as he could see the evidences of a strong and lively faith
in any of his followers, they should be gratified in their holy curiosity. He
set them to continual prayer, and other spiritual exercises, to acquire this
lively faith by means of which the hidden things of God could be spiritually
discerned; and at last, when he could delay them no longer, he assembled
them in a room, and produced a box, which he said contained the precious
treasure. The lid was opened; the witnesses peeped into it, but making no
discovery, for the box was empty, they said, “Brother Joseph, we do not see
the plates.” The prophet answered them, “O ye of little faith! how long will
God bear with this wicked and perverse generation? Down on your knees,
brethren, every one of you, and pray God for the forgiveness of your sins,
and for a holy and living faith which cometh down from heaven.” The
disciples dropped to their knees, and began to pray in the fervency of their

4. On David Whitmer (1805-88), see “Introduction to David Whit-
mer Collection.”

5. Compare VI.G.l, TESTIMONY OF THITEE WITNESSES, JUN

1829.

6. Compare III.L.13, TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES, JUN

1829.

333

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

spirit, supplicating God for more than two hours with fanatical earnestness;
at the end of which time, looking again into the box, they were now
persuaded that they saw the plates. I leave it to philosophers to determine
whether the fumes of an enthusiastic and fanatical [p. 257] imagination are
thus capable of blinding the mind and deceiving the senses by so absurd a
delusion. ...

334

19.

BRIGHAM YOUNG ACCOUNTS, 1855 & 1857

1. “A discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the
Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Feb. 18, 1S55,'' Journal of
Discourses of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 26 vols.
(Liverpool: Albert Carrington [and others], 1853-1886), 2:180-81.

2. “Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, July 19, lS57f Journal of Discourses of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 26 vols. (Liverpool: Albert
Carrington [and others], 1853-1886), 5:55.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Brigham Young (1801-77) was born at Wittingham, Windham
County, Vermont. He joined the Methodist church about 1822. On 8
October 1824 he married Miriam Works in Aurilius, New York. In 1829
he moved to Mendon, New York, where he worked as a carpenter, joiner,
painter, and glazier. He first heard about Mormonism through Solomon
Chamberlain in 1830 (see III.J.l, SOLOMON CHAMBERLAIN AC¬
COUNTS, 1845 & CIRCA 1858, 1:53), but was not baptized until April
1832. He was ordained an apostle in February 1835. As president of the
Twelve Apostles, he became the leader of the largest group of Mormons after
Joseph Smith’s death, establishing its headquarters at Salt Lake City, Utah.
Young died at Salt Lake City (L. Cook 1981, 279-81; Arrington 1985).

In the following two accounts. Young relates events that occurred in
the Palmyra/Manchester, New York, area in 1827, particularly the attempt
of an unnamed “fortune-teller” to locate Smith’s gold plates. While Young
could not recall the man’s name in either 1855 or 1857, in 1986 D. Michael
Quinn suggested Luman Walters, a necromanic treasure seeker from nearby
Pultneyville whom Abner Cole named as Smith’s occult mentor (Quinn
1987, 83; IILE.3, PALMYRA REFLECTOR, 1829-1831, n. 21). Another
source seems to confirm Quinn’s suspicions (see IILK.37, ELIZABETH
KANE INTERVIEW WITH BRIGHAM YOUNG, ARTEMISIA
[BEAMAN] SNOW, AND ORRIN ROCKWELL, 1872-1873). While
Young claims “personal knowledge” about the coming forth of the Book of
Mormon and related events, his information is secondhand since he learned

335

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

of the Mormon scripture only after its publication in 1830 and was intro¬
duced to Smith for the first time in 1832. Later, Young met the “fortune-
teller,” who may have briefly converted to Mormonism,^ and from him
learned the details of the story he here relates.

[1. Discourse, 185S]

... It was priests who first persecuted Joseph Smith. I wiU here relate a
few of the circumstances which I personally knew concerning the coming
forth of the plates, from a part of which the Book of Mormon was translated.
This fact may be new to several, but I had a personal knowledge with regard
to many of those circumstances.

I well knew a man who, to get the plates, rode over sixty miles^ three
times the same season they were obtained by Joseph Smith. About the time
of their being delivered to Joseph by the angel, the friends of this man sent
for him, and informed him that they were going to lose that treasure, though
they did not know what it was. The man I refer to was a fortune-teller, a
necromancer, an astrologer, a soothsayer, and possessed as much talent as any
man that walked on the American soil, and was one of the wickedest men I
ever saw. The last time he went to obtain the treasure he knew where it was,
and told where it was, but did not know its value. Allow me to tell you that
a Baptist deacon^ and others of Joseph’s [p. 180] neighbors were the very

1. In an 1850 sermon. Young evidently alluded to the same person: “I
remember once at the commencement of this church, a necromancer em¬
braced it, but he could not be satisfied; he came and said he had fingered and
handled the perverted priesthood so much, the course I have taken is down¬
wards, the devil has too fast hold of me, I cannot go with you; but the rest
slide off” (Millennial Star 12 [15 September 1850]: 275).

2. Lucy Smith also mentioned that enemies in Palmyra “sent for a con¬
juror to come 60 miles to divine the place where the record was deposited by
magic art” (LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:63). D. Michael
Quinn has suggested that this person might have been Luman Walters, who
resided in Pultneyville, about twenty-five miles north of the Smith home in
Manchester, and believes that this “proximity could be the geographic refer¬
ence for Young’s later reminiscences” (1987, 83). Young, however, evidently
believed, probably mistakenly, that Walters had lived “on the Hudson
[River] South of Albany” (see III.K. 37, ELIZABETH KANE INTERVIEW
WITH BRIGHAM YOUNG, ARTEMISIA (BEAMAN) SNOW, AND
ORRIN ROCKWELL, 1872-1873).

3. In 1987 Quinn suggested that the “Baptist deacon” referred to by
Young was Alvah Be(a)man of Livonia, New York. Despite the tradition that
Beman helped the Smiths conceal the plates under their hearth (see LB.5,

336

BRIGHAM YOUNG ACCOUNTS, 1855 & 1857

men who sent for this necromancer the last time he went for the treasure. I
never heard a man who could swear like that astrologer; he swore scientifi¬
cally, by rule, by note. To those who love swearing, it was musical to hear
him, but not so to me, for I would leave his presence. He would call Joseph
everything that was bad, and say, ‘T believe he will get the treasure after all.”
He did get it, and the war commenced directly.

When Joseph obtained the treasure, the priests, the deacons, and
religionists of every grade, went hand in hand with the fortune-teller, and
with every wicked person, to get it out of his hands, and, to accomplish this,
a part of them came out and persecuted him. ...

[2. Remarks, 1857]

... Do you not think that those [evil] spirits knew when Joseph Smith
got the plates? Yes, just as well as you know that I am talking to you now.
They were there at the time, and millions and millions of them opposed
Joseph in getting the plates; and not only they opposed him, but also men
in the flesh. I never heard such oaths fall from the lips of any man as I heard
uttered by a man who was called a fortune-teller, and who knew where those
plates were hid. He went three times in one summer to get them, — the same
summer in which Joseph did get them. Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist

LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:67-68; III.K.12, MARY A. NOBLE
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, CIRCA 1834-1836; and IILK.13, JOSEPH B. NO¬
BLE AUTOBIOGRAPHY, CIRCA 1834-1836), Joseph Knight reported
that Beman came to the Smiths’ home with Samuel Lawrence and used his
rod to discover the location of the plates under the hearth (IV.A.l, JOSEPH
KNIGHT, SR., REMINISCENCE, CIRCA 1835-1847, 3). Quinn sug¬
gested that “Beman became disaffected from Joseph Smith, when the latter
obtained the Book of Mormon plates in September 1827, and briefly joined
with Palmyra neighbors Willard Chase and Samuel F. Lawrence who turned
against the Smiths and tried to steal the gold plates” (1987, 35). Quinn also
noted: “In the manuscript of his Journal of Discourses address, Brigham Young
remarked that one of Joseph Smith’s neighbors was a Baptist deacon who sent
for the necromancer [Luman Walters] in 1827 to take the gold plates from
Joseph Smith, but that this neighbor became converted to Joseph Smith’s
claims and remained a faithful elder in the LDS Church until his death”

(1987, 35, n. 3). The recent publication of Elizabeth Kane’s journal has con¬
firmed Quinn’s previous supposition. In this source Young is quoted as say¬
ing, “Beman was one of those who sent for him [the fortune teller]” (see
III.K. 37, ELIZABETH KANE INTERVIEW WITH BRIGHAM
YOUNG, ARTEMISIA [BEAMAN] SNOW, AND ORRIN ROCK¬
WELL, 1872-1873).

337

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

priests and deacons sent for him to tell where those plates were, and to get
them out of the hill where they were deposited; and he had not returned to
his home from the last trip he made for them more than a week or ten days
before Joseph got them. Joseph was what we call an ignorant boy; but this
fortune-teller, whose name I do not remember, was a man of profound
learning.

He had put himself in possession of all the learning in the States, — had
been to France, Germany, Italy, and through the world, — had been educated
for a priest, and turned out to be a devil. I do not know but that he would
have been a devil if he had followed the profession of a priest among what
are termed the Christian denominations. He could preach as well as the best
of them, and I never heard a man swear as he did. He could tell that those
plates were there, and that they were a treasure whose value to the people
could not be told; for that I myself heard him say. Those spirits driven from
heaven were with him and with others who tried to prevent Joseph’s getting
the plates; but he did get and secrete them, though he had to knock down
two or three men, as he was going home, who were waylaying him to kill
him.^ From that day to this, a part of the host of heaven made mention of
in the Bible, with the cursed corrupt priests and the cursed scoundrelly
Gentiles with them, have been trying to put down this work. ...

4. Quinn sees this description as pointing to Luman Walters, citing
Clark Braden who said Walters “had been a physician in Europe. This person
had learned in Europe the secret of Mesmerism or animal magnetism”
(Braden and Kelley [1884], 367; see also Quinn 1987, 83, 96). However,
Braden failed to state the authority upon which his assertion rested.

5. See LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:63-66; and
III.F.IO, MARTIN HABJLIS INTERVIEW WITH JOEL TIFFANY,

1859, 166-67.

338

20.

EMER HARRIS ACCOUNT, 1856

Utah Stake General Minutes (1855-1860), L.R. 9629, Series 11, 10:268-70,
entry of 6 April 1856, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Emer Harris (1781-1869), elder brother of Martin Harris, was born at
Cambridge, Washington County, New York. He married Roxana Peas in
1802, and together they parented six children, all born at Cambridge, New
York (1803-13). Following the death of his first wife, he married Deborah
Lott in January 1819 in Pennsylvania. Their five children were all bom at
Windham, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (1819-25), where he probably
married his third wife, Parna Chapel (1792-1857), in 1826. This union
produced four children: two born at Windham, Luzerne County, Pennsyl¬
vania (1827, 1830), and two at Brownhelm, Lorain County, Ohio (1832,
1834). He was therefore living at or near Windham when he converted to
Mormonism through the missionary efforts of Newel Knight and Hyrum
Smith (see IV.A.2, NEWEL KNIGHT JOURNAL, CIRCA 1846, 23;
IV.A.3, NEWEL KNIGHT AUTOBIOGRAPHY, CIRCA 1846, 65). He
was baptized by Newel Knight on 10 February 1831. By June 1831, Emer
had moved to Kirtland, Ohio, where he was ordained an elder. In 1852 he
migrated to Utah, where he was called as a patriarch the following year. He
died at Logan, Cache County, Utah (Jessee 1989, 489; L. Cook 1981,
154-55; Porter 1971, 207; Family Group Record, Family History Library,
Salt Lake City, Utah).

At a Provo, Utah, stake conference, on 6 April 1856, Emer Harris gave
a brief account of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, loss of the
translation manuscript, and organization of the church. Emer states that he
learned of the events connected with the Book of Mormon “as they
transpired,” presumably from his brother Martin Harris.

Provo [Utah] Sunday Ap[ri]l 6/[18]56[.] Meeting op[e]ned at 1/2 past 10
AM[.] Father [Emer] Harris said Brethren I am glad to see so Many here this
Morning[.] it seems to be to Me an Omen of better Days[.] I am not in habit
of preaching often to the Saints so that I am not so used to it as i was when
i preached to the World[.] Br Brigham [Young] says there [are] Many
preachers but not Many fathers, he often says he hears Many of the Elder[s]

339

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

preach [things?] wich astonished him[.] Brethren it is more [than] 26 years
since this Chirch was Organized with but Six Members [.] there are Many
here who are not long in [the] church therefore I will give you a History of
the Church according to My own Knowledge as they transpired[.] My Br
Martin Harris^ wrote near 200 pages and as he had wrote and advanced
Money for the printing the same he thought he had some right to the writings
consequently he desired to show them to some one[.]^ Joseph Enquired of
the Lord [and] the answer was no[.] notwithstanding [this] he still persisted
in doing the same[.] but on his way to Exebit the writings, he lost them[.]
After I heard this i spoke of it to Many of My Nei=ghbours[.] the[y] thought
i was some [one] singular and said i was intended to become somebody by
the operation of this Book[.] As soon as i heard of this book i mad[e] all
Enquiry to Obtain this Book, During this time Joseph hid the plates in the
woods, the people hired an astrologer to finde the plates, he kept Track of
them But could not finde them[.]^ Josephs friends send his Wife Emmy"^ on
a stray horse to tell Joseph to come home for the plates were in Danger[.]
he came and hid the plates under the House but as the house was built a little
above the ground he removed them in a cooper shop [and] hid them in some
flags[.] the same Night the floor in the house was took up[.] Next day he
took them from the Shop from the flags and hid them in a Barrel of Beens
and whil[e] he was Moveing a Mob gathered around him [p. 268]^ And
would have got them but they could not finde them[.] so you see the Trouble
Br Joseph had to Bring the Book of Mormon forward[.] Nel Well I made
all Enquiry respecting it[.] I saw from the Countinance of Joseph an[d] his
Brothers that the thing was true[.] yes the[y] told me with all the Sincerity
and simplicity of honest Men I Commenced to investigate and to be more
particu=lar[.] Made a Concordance to it and i compared it with the Bible
an[d] the Apockaphy [Apocrypha]. I a was at that time a Mec<h>anick and

1. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

2. The event Emer describes occurred in June 1828, more than a year
before Martin mortgaged his land to print the Book of Mormon (see III. L. 14,
MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829). Martin had given $50
to help relocate Smith in Harmony, Pennsylvania.

3. Compare IILK.19, BRIGHAM YOUNG ACCOUNTS, 1855 &

1857.

4. On Emma Hale Smith (1804-79), see “Introduction to Emma
Smith Collection.”

5. At the top of page 269 is added in the same hand: “116 p[ages] lost
not to be translated and the thing is hid from the Saints to this Day.”

340

EMER HARRIS ACCOUNT, 1856

i tried the things by the Square[.] the Bible was My Square and i laid My
Square on it [and] if it fit i concluded it was true. ... this the birth day of our
Church let us Keep it Sacred as it this is the 26 year of the Church[.] now I
will give way for some of my Bretheren[.] [p. 269] May the Lord Bless you
amen ...

341

21.

PARLEY P. PRATT P^MINISCENCE (PART I),

1856

Parley P. Pratt, “Discourse By Elder Parley P. Pratt, Bowery, Sunday,
September 7th, 1856. Reported byj. V. Long,” Deseret News 6 (24 December
1856): 332.

EDITORIAL NOTE

The following is an excerpt from a discourse delivered by Parley
P. Pratt^ in the bowery in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 7 September 1856,
in which he recounted the events surrounding his early conversion to
Mormonism.

... The first thing that attracted my attention towards this work was the
Book of Mormon, I happened to see a copy of it. Some man, nearly a stranger
to it, and not particularly a believer in it, happened to get hold of a copy; he
made mention of it to me, and gave me the privilege of coming to his house
and reading it. This was at a place about a day’s journey from the residence
of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and his father,^ and while I was returning to
the work of my ministry; for I was then traveling and preaching, being
connected with a society of people sometimes called Campbellites, or
reformed Baptists.

I had diligently searched the scriptures, and prayed to God to open my
mind that I might understand them; and he had poured his Spirit and
understanding into my heart, so that I did understand the scriptures in a good
degree, the letter of the gospel, its forms and first principles in their truth, as
they are written in the Bible. These things were opened to my mind, but
the power, the gifts and the authority of the gospel I knew were lacking, and
did really expect that they would be restored, because I knew that the things
that were predicted could never be fulfilled, until that power and that
authority were restored. I also had an understanding of the literal fulfilment

1. On Parley P. Pratt (1807-57), see introduction to III. K. 16, PAR¬
LEY P. PRATT AUTOBIOGRAPHY, CIRCA 1854.

2. Actually the residence of Hyrum Smith and his father; at this time
(August 1830) Joseph Smith lived in Harmony, Pennsylvania.

342

PARLEY P. PRATT REMINISCENCE (PART I), 1856

of the prophecies in the Bible, so that I really did believe in and hope for the
literal restoration of Israel, the cutting off of wickedness, the second coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ and the triumph of his kingdom on the earth. All
this I was looking for, and the Spirit seemed to whisper to my mind that I
should see it in my day.

Under these circumstances I was traveling to impart the light which I
had to others, and while doing this I found, as I before stated, the Book of
Mormon. I read it carefully and diligently, a great share of it, without
knowing that the priesthood had been restored, without ever having heard
of anything called “Mormonism,” or having any idea of such Church and
people.

There were the witnesses and their testimony to the book, to its
translation and to the ministration of angels, and there was the testimony of
the translator, but I had not seen them, I had not heard of them, and hence
I had no idea of their organization, or of their priesthood. All I knew about
the matter was what, as a stranger, I could gather from the book; but as I
read I was convinced that it was true, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon
me while I read and enlightened my mind, convinced my judgment and
reveted [riveted] the truth upon my understanding, so that I knew that the
book was true, just as well as a man knows the daylight from the dark night,
or any other thing that can be implanted in his understanding. I did not know
it by any audible voice from heaven, by any ministration of an angel, by any
open vision; but I knew it by the spirit of understanding in my heart, by the
light that was in me. I knew it was true, because it was light and had come
in fulfilment of the scriptures, and I bore testimony of its truth to the
neighbors that came in during the first day that I sat reading it, at the house
of an old Baptist deacon named Hamblin.^

This same Spirit led me to enquire after and search out the translator,
Joseph Smith; and I traveled on foot during the whole of a very hot day in
August [1830], bhstering my feet, in order to go where I heard he lived; and
at night I arrived in the neighborhood of the little village of Manchester,
then in Ontario County, New York. On the way I overtook a man driving
some cows, and enquired for Joseph Smith, the finder and translator of the
Book of Mormon. He told me that he lived away off, something more than
a hundred miles from there, in the State of Pennsylvania. I then enquired for
the father of the Prophet, and he pointed to the house, but said that the old
gentleman had gone a journey to some distant place. After a while, in

3. This person remains unidentified.

343

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

conversation, the man told me that his name w^as Hyrum Smith, and that
he was a brother to the Prophet Joseph. This was the first Latter Day Saint
that I had ever seen.

He invited me to his home, where I saw mother [Lucy] Smith,^ and
Hyrum Smith’s wife Qerusha]^ and sister [Sarah] Rockwell,^ the mother of
Orin Porter Rockwell.^ We sat up talking nearly all night, for I had not much
spare time, having two appointments out and a long day’s journey for a man
to walk. I had to return the next morning, and we conversed during most
of the night, without being either sleepy or weary.

During that conversation I learned something of the rights of the
Church, its organization, the restoration of the priesthood and many impor¬
tant truths. I felt to go back and fill the two appointments given out, and
that closed my ministry, as I felt that I had no authority and that I would go
back and obey the priesthood which was again on the earth.

I attended to my appointments, and was back again the next morning
to br. Hyrum’s. He made me a present of the Book of Mormon, and I felt
richer in the possession of that book, or the knowledge contained it, than
I would could I have had a warrantee deed of all the farms and buildings
in that country, and it was one of the finest regions in the world. I walked
a while, and then sat down and read awhile, for it was not my mind to
read the book through at once. I would read, and then read the same
portion over again, and then walk on. I was filled with joy and gladness,
my spirit was made rich, and it was made to rejoice, almost as vividly as if
I had seen it myself, that the Lord Jesus Christ did appear in his own proper
person, in his resurrected body, and minister to that people in America in
ancient times. ...

As before stated, I fulfilled my two appointments; crowds heard me and
were interested, and solicited me to make more appointments. I told them
that I would not, that I had a duty to perform for myself. I bid them farewell.

4. On Hyrum Smith (1800-44), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 12.

5. On Lucy Smith (1775-1856), see “Introduction to Lucy Smith Col¬
lection.”

6. On Jerusha Barden Smith (1805-37), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 120.

7. On Sarah Witt Rockwell (1785-?), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 90.

8. On Orrin Porter Rockwell (1813-78), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 121.

344

PARLEY P. PRATT REMINISCENCE (PART I), 1856

and returned to Hyrum Smith, who took me to a place, about twenty-five
miles off, in Seneca county. New York.

9. For Pratt’s account of events in Fayette, New York, see VI. F. 7,
PARLEY P. PRATT REMINISCENCE (PART II), 1856.

345

22.

Thomas b. marsh autobiography,

1857

Thomas B. Marsh, “History of Thomas Baldwin Marsh. (Written by himself
in Great Salt Lake City, November 1857),” Manuscript History of Brigham
Young, voL G, 107-112, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Published in Thomas B. Marsh, “History of Tho[ma]s. Baldwin Marsh,”
Deseret News 8 (24 March 1858): 18; and reprinted in Millennial Star 26 (11
June 1864): 375.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Thomas B. Marsh (1799-1866) was born at Action, Middlesex County,
Massachusetts. He married Elizabeth Godkin of Long Island, New York, in
1820, and soon set up a type foundry business in Boston, Massachusetts.
Marsh appears in the 1830 census of Charleston, Middlesex County, Massa¬
chusetts, with his wife and three children (1830:42). In the present history.
Marsh reports that he was travelling through western New York when he
heard about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. When curiosity led
him to visit Palmyra, Marsh “found Martin Harris at the printing office ...
where the first sixteen pages of the Book of Mormon had just been struck
ojfi, the proof sheet of which I obtained from the printer and took with me.”
He also visited the Smith residence and met Oliver Cowdery, “who gave
me all the information concerning the book I desired.” He was baptized by
David Whitmer in Fayette, New York, on 3 September 1830, and soon after
ordained an elder. The following year he moved from his home in Massa¬
chusetts and relocated at Kirtland, Ohio. An early revelation declared Marsh
a “physician unto the church” (D&C 31:10). He was ordained a high priest
in June 1831, and president of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in April
1835. Following his excommunication for apostasy in 1839, Marsh remained
in Missouri for eighteen years. After his rebaptism on 16 July 1857 at
Florence, Nebraska, he immigrated to Utah, settling in Spanish Fork, Utah,
where he taught school. He died at Ogden, Utah (Jenson 1971, 1:74-76; L.
Cook 1981, 42-43; Jessee 1989, 499).

Marsh began writing his history the month following his arrival in Utah.
The editor of the Deseret News informs readers that Marsh’s history was
“Written by himself in Great Salt Lake City, November 1857.” Marsh’s

346

THOMAS B. MARSH AUTOBIOGRAPHY, 1857

history is reproduced below from the Manuscript History of Brigham Young,
written apparently in Thomas Bullock’s hand.

... Immediately after marrying [in November 1820] I commenced in
the grocery business, in New York, in which business I remained one and a
half years, but did not succeed. I then engaged in a type foundry in Boston,
where I continued seven years.

While engaged in this business I joined the Methodist church and tried
for two years to be a genuine Methodist, but did not succeed any better in
getting Methodist religion than I did in the grocery business. I compared
Methodism with the Bible, but could not make it correspond.

I withdrew from all sects, and being about to leave Boston my old class
leader wished me to take a good certificate, but I informed him I did not
want it. I had a measure of the spirit of prophecy and told him that I expected
a new church would arise, which would have the truth in its purity. He said
to me, “You no doubt mean to be a leader in that new sect.” I told him I
had no such intentions. He said, he prayed that the Lord would make me a
firebrand in the midst of that new religious body, as reformation was
necessary, [p. 107]

My wife, unknown to me, however, got a certificate for herself and
me on one paper. I informed her that I <never> would attend, but I would
find a suitable class for her if she wanted to join.

I remained in Boston several years, engaged in the type foundry. During
this period I became acquainted with several friends whose opinions con¬
cerning religion were like my own. We kept aloof from sectarians, and were
called by them Quietists, because we resembled so much a sect in France
known by that name professing to be led by the Spirit.

I believed the Spirit of God dictated me to make a journey west. I
started in company with one Benjamin Hall,^ who was also led by the Spirit.
I went to Lima, Livingston county. New York, where I stayed some three
months, and then left for home. I called on my return at Lyonstown, on a
family, whose names I do not recollect. On leaving there next morning the
lady enquired if I had heard of the Golden Book found by a youth named
Joseph Smith. I informed her I never heard anything about it, and became
very anxious to know con=cerning the matter. On enquiring, she told me
I could learn more about it from Martin Harris,^ in Palmyra.

1 . This person remains unidentified.

2. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

347

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

I returned back westward and found Martin Harris at the printing
office, in Palmyra, where the first sixteen pages of the Book of Mor¬
mon had just been struck off, the proof sheet of which I obtained from
the printer and took with me.^ As soon as Martin Harris found out my
intentions he took me to the house of Joseph Smith Sen.,"^ where
Joseph Smith Jun., resided,^ who could give me any information I
might wish. Here I found Oliver Cowdery,^ who gave me all the in¬
formation concerning the book I desired. After staying there two days
I started for Charleston, Mass., highly pleased with the information I
had obtained concerning the new found book.

After arriving home and finding my family all well, I showed my wife
the sixteen pages of the Book of Mormon which I had obtained, with which
she was well pleased, believing it to be the word of God. From this time for
about one year I corresponded with Oliver Cowdery^ andjoseph Smith Jun.,
and prepared myself to move west.

Learning by letter that the Church of Jesus Christ had been organized
on the 6th day of April 1830, 1 moved to Palmyra, Ontario co., in September
following, and landed at the house of Joseph Smith, sen., with my whole
family. During this month I was baptized by David Whitmer, in Cayuga
lake,^ and in a few days I was ordained an Elder by Oliver Cowdery with
six Elders, at Father Whitmer’s house. ^

Joseph received a revelation appointing me a physician to the church
[D&C 31].

3. This occurred after printing began in late August 1829, probably af
ter Joseph Smith’s departure from the area in late September, and before 25
October 1829 when Oliver Cowdery mentioned receiving a letter from
Marsh, who had returned to his home in Massachusetts (see IILF.3, OLIVER
COWDERY TO JOSEPH SMITH, 6 NOV 1829, 8).

4. On Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

5. At this time (October 1829), Joseph Smith was living in Harmony,
Pennsylvania.

6. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow¬
dery Collection.”

7. See IILF.2, OLIVER COWDERY TO JOSEPH SMITH, 6 NOV
1829, 8.

8. Marsh was baptized on 3 September 1830 (Porter 1971, 263).

9. Probably at the 26 September 1830 church conference (see VLG.2,
FAR WEST RECORD, 9 JUN 1830, 26 SEP 1830 & 2 JAN 1831). Smith
mentions receiving a revelation “in the presence of six elders” (LA. 15,
JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 56).

348

THOMAS B. MARSH AUTOBIOGRAPHY, 1857

After remaining in that State, during the fall and winter the church
moved to Ohio. In the spring of 1831 I journeyed with the main body to
Kirtland. [p. 108] ...

349

23.

PHINEAS HOWE YOUNG AUTOBIOGRAPHY,

1863

[Phineas Howe Young], “History of Brigham Young,” [History of Phineas
Howe Young], Millennial Star 25 (6 June 1863): 360-61; and 25 (13 June
1863): 374-75.’

EDITORIAL NOTE

Phineas Howe Young (1799-1879), brother of Brigham Young, was
born at Hopkinton, Massachusetts. He married Clarissa Hamilton in 1818,
and later Lucy Cowdery, Oliver Cowdery’s half sister. He was a Methodist
preacher at the time he received a copy of the Book of Mormon from Samuel
Smith in 1830. He was baptized in April 1832, and soon after moved to Kirt-
land, Ohio. In 1847 he emigrated to Utah. He died at Salt Lake City (Cannon
and Cook 1983, 297; Cook andBackman 1985, 109; Jessee 1989, 525).

[6 June 1863]

In April, 1830, having received the Book of Mormon, as I was on my
way home from the town of Lima [Livingston County, New York], where
I had been to preach, I stopped at the house of a man by the name of
Tomlinson,^ to get some dinner. While engaged in conversation with the
family, a young man came in, and walking across the room to where I was
sitting, held a book towards me, saying, — “There is a book, sir, I wish you
to read.” The thing appeared so novel to me that for a moment I hesitated,
saying, — “Pray, sir, what book have you?” “The Book of Mormon, or, as it
is called by some, the Golden Bible.” “Ah, sir, then it purports to be a
revelation.” “Yes,” said he, “it is a revelation from God.” I took the book,
and by his request looked at the testimony of the witnesses. Said he — “If you
wiU read this book with a prayerful heart, and ask God to give you a witness,
you will know of the truth of this work.” I told him I would do so, and then
asked him his name. He said his name was Samuel H. Smith. ^ “Ah,” said I,

1. Phineas Howe Young’s history was published serially in the Star un¬
der the title “History of Brigham Young” and should not be confused with
Brigham Young’s history published under the same title, also in the Star.

2. This person remains unidentified.

3. On Samuel Harrison Smith (1808-44), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 13.

350

PHINEAS HOWE YOUNG AUTOBIOGRAPHY, 1863

[“]you are one of the witnesses.” [p. 360] “Yes,” said he, ‘T know the book
to be a revelation from God, translated by the gift and power of the Holy
Ghost, and that my brother Joseph Smith, jun., is a Prophet, Seer and
Revelator.”

This language seemed to me very strange, and, I thought, rather
ridiculous; still I said but little more to him, but thought he must be deceived,
and that the book was a production got up to lead people astray; however,

I thought it my duty to read it, as I had promised, and search out the errors,
and, as a teacher in Israel, expose such errors and save the people from the
delusion.

I bought the book and went home, and told my wife I had got a week’s
work laid out, and I hoped that nothing would occur to prevent my
accomplishing my task. She said, “Have you anything new to attend to?” I
replied, “I have got a book here, called the Book of Mormon, and it is said
to be a revelation, and I wish to read it and make myself acquainted with its
errors, so that I can expose them to the world.”

I commenced and read every word in the book the same week. The
week following I did the same, but to my surprise I could not find the errors
I anticipated, but felt a conviction that the book was true.

On the next Sabbath I was requested to give my views on the subject,
which I commenced to do. I had not spoken ten minutes in defence of
the book when the Spirit of God came upon me in a marvellous manner,
and I spoke at great length on the importance of such a work, quoting
from the Bible to support my position, and finally closed by telling the
people that I believed the book. The greater part of the people agreed
with my views, and some of them said they had never heard me speak so
well and with such power. My father"^ then took the book home with
him, and read it through. I asked him his opinion of it. He said it was the
greatest work and the clearest of error of anything he had ever seen, the
Bible not excepted.

I then lent the book to my sister Fanny Murray.^ She read it and
declared it a revelation. Many others did the same. [p. 361]

4. John Young (1763-1839) (see III.K.24, HEBER C. KIMBALL
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, 1864, n. 4).

5. Fanny Young (1787-1859), daughter ofjohn Young, was born at
Hopkinton, Massachusetts. She married Robert Carr in 1803. She also mar¬
ried Roswell Murray in 1832, and Joseph Smith in 1843. She died at Salt
Lake City (Arrington 1985, 418; L. Cook 1981, 120 n. 4).

351

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

[13 June 1863]

In August [1830] following, my brother Joseph Young^ came from
Canada to see me. He had been there preaching, and having a desire to have
me in this field of labor for a season, he came over to the States with the
intention of getting me to go back with him.

We accordingly left for Kingston, in Upper Canada, about the 20th of
August [1830]; and passing through the town of Lyons [Wayne County,
New York], we called on an old acquaintance by the name of Solomon
Chamberlain.^ We had no sooner got seated than he began to preach
Mormonism to us. He told us there was a Church organized, and ten or
more were baptized, and every body must believe the Book of Mormon or
be lost.

I told him to hold on, when he had talked about two hours setting
forth the wonders of Mormonism — that it was not good to give a colt a
bushel of oats at a time. I knew that my brother had but little idea of what
he was talking, and I wanted he should have time to reflect; but it made little
difference to him, he still talked of Mormonism.

We tarried a short time with him and then went on our way, pondering
upon the things we had heard. This was the first I had heard of the necessity
of another church, or of the importance of re-baptism; but after hearing the
old gentleman’s arguments on the importance of the power of the holy
Priesthood, and the necessity of its restoration in order that the power of the
Gospel might be made manifest, I began to inquire seriously into the matter,
and soon became convinced that such an order of things was necessary for
the salvation of the world.

We soon reached the place of our destination, it being but 18 miles
from Kingston, in Earnest Town, where we commenced our labor. I tarried
some time with my brother, trying to preach, but could think of but little
except the Book of Mormon and what I had heard of Mormonism.

One day after I had been preaching in Loborough, I said to my brother,
“What did you think of my preaching to-day?” “O,” said he, “if you had
just come from the priest factory in the States, I should have thought you
did very well, but I don’t think there was much God in it.” I then told him

6. On Joseph Young (1797-1881), see LB.5, LUCY SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1845, n. 286.

7. On Solomon Chamberlain (1788-1862), see introduction to III.J.l,
SOLOMON CHAMBERLAIN ACCOUNTS, 1845 & CIRCA 1858.

352

PHINEAS HOWE YOUNG AUTOBIOGRAPHY, 1863

I could not preach, and that I should return home. I accordingly started in
a few days.

On my way I attended a quarterly meeting, held by the Episcopal
Methodists in Kingston, at the close of their Annual Conference. At the close
of the meeting an Indian gave an appointment to preach in the British Chapel
[p. 374] at early candle-light. I determined to go, for the Book of Mormon
and the Lamanites were before me continually. As soon as the candles were
lit, I was in my seat near the desk. The preacher was there and soon
commenced. I listened with great interest while he set forth the traditions of
his fathers in a masterly way, and made many statements corroborating the
truth of the Book of Mormon.

After meeting I went to my hotel, where the most of the members of
the conference assembled for the night. I think Bishops Heading and George
were present. After all were seated in two large rooms, I took my place at
the door between the two rooms, and, calling the attention of the people, I
asked them if any one present had ever read the Book of Mormon? I paused
for an answer, and after a short pause a gentleman said that he had never seen
or heard of such a work. I then said the book was called by some the Golden
Bible.

This seemed to take the attention of the whole assembly, consisting of
more than one hundred. A gentleman requested me, in behalf of the people
present, to give them some account of the book. I commenced by telling
them that it was a revelation from God, translated from the Reformed
Egyptian language by Joseph Smith, jun., by the gift and power of God, and
gave a full account of the aborigines of our country, and agreed with many
of their traditions, of which we had been hearing this evening, and that it
was destined to overthrow all false religions, and finally to bring in the
peaceful reign of the Messiah.

I had forgotten everything but my subject, until I had talked a
long time and told many things I had never thought of before. I bore
a powerful testimony to the work, and thus closed my remarks and
went to bed, not to sleep, but to ponder with astonishment at what I
had said, and to wonder with amazement at the power that seemed to
compel me thus to speak.

The next morning I took passage on a packet for the States, landed at
Old Oswego, took passage on a canal-packet for Manlius Square [Onondaga
County, New York], where I met a great number of my friends who had
assembled for our Annual Conference; among the number was my old friend
Solomon Chamberlain. He told me he had come to offer the conference the
Book of Mormon, saying that if they rejected it they would all go to

353

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

destruction. He soon filled his mission, and was driven from the place by the
voice of the conference.

One man whose name was Buckley,^ and an elder in the Methodist
Reformed Church, railed on brother Chamberlain and abused him shame¬
fully. He immediately went crazy, and was carried home to the town of
Smyrnia, a distance of 20 or 30 miles, and died in a few days raving mad.

I attended the conference, bore my testimony, and left for home in
company with my brother-in-law, John P. Greene.^

On our arrival we found our families all well. I still continued to preach,
trying to tie Mormonism to Methodism, for more than a year, when I found
that they had no connection and could not be united, and that I must leave
the one and cleave to the other.

About this time my brother Brigham^^ came to see me, and very soon
told me that he was convinced that there was something in Mormonism. I
told him I had long been satisfied of that. ...

8. This person, also named by Chamberlain, remains unidentified
(III.J.l, SOLOMON CHAMBERLAIN ACCOUNTS, 1854 & CIRCA
1858, 2:11-12).

9. John Portineus Greene (1793-1844) was born at Herkimer, New
York. He married Rhoda Young, sister of Brigham Young. He was baptized
in 1832 and soon after moved to Kirtland, Ohio. He died in Illinois (Cannon
and Cook 1983, 264).

10. On Brigham Young (1801-77), see introduction to IILK.19,
BRIGHAM YOUNG ACCOUNTS, 1855 & 1857.

1 1 . Phineas then recounts the events leading up to his baptism on 5
April 1832, beginning with his introduction in January 1832 to the Saints liv¬
ing in Bradford County, Pennsylvania.

354

24.

Heber C. Kimball Autobiography, 1864

Heber C. Kimball, “History of Brigham Young,” [History of Heber C.
Kimball], Millennial Star 26 (23 July 1864): 472; and 26 (30 July 1864): 487.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Heber C. Kimball (1801-68) was born at Sheldon, Franklin County,
Vermont. His family moved to West Bloomfield, New York, where he
apprenticed as a blacksmith and a potter. He married Vilate Murray in
November 1822 at Mendon, New York. In April 1832 he was baptized and
soon after ordained an elder. The following year he moved to Kirtland, Ohio,
where he worked as a potter. He was ordained an apostle in February 1835.
In 1847 he emigrated to Salt Lake City, and soon after was sustained as a
counselor to Brigham Young. He died at Salt Lake City (L. Cook 1981,
263-64).

A significant feature of Kimball’s autobiography is his description of
seeing unusual phenomena in the earth’s atmosphere, which he later believed
had occurred the night Joseph Smith had removed the plates from the hiU.
Kimball’s account is only the most elaborate version of a modern religious
myth that developed among early Mormon converts. Pomeroy Tucker
reported in 1867 that “Smith told a frightful story of the display of celestial
pyrotechnics on the exposure to his view of the sacred book” on 22
September 1827, adding that “this story was repeated and magnified by the
believers” (III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 30-31).
Frederick G. Mather reported in 1880 that “according to the faithful,”
Smith’s removal of the plates from the hill was accompanied by “a mighty
display of celestial machinery” (III.J.13, ORLANDO SAUNDERS, WIL¬
LIAM VAN CAMP, AND JOHN H. GILBERT INTERVIEWS WITH
FPTDERICK G. MATHER, JUL 1880, 200).

Among the “faithful” who joined Kimball in reporting the appearance
of unusual atmospheric phenomena the night Joseph Smith obtained the
plates was Aaron M. Baldwin, a resident of western New York who,
according to an 1882 reminiscence of his son Nathan B. Baldwin, saw the
signs in the heavens, including visions of armies and other scenes, in 1827;
like KimbaU, Baldwin later learned that it was on the night that Smith
received the plates (Nathan B. Baldwin, Journal, LDS Church Archives, Salt
Lake City, Utah). Jonathan H. Hale reported that his father, Solomon Hale,

355

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

also a resident of western New York, had seen on the night of 22 September
1827 the same phenomena in the sky (see Jonathan H. Hale, Journal,
typescript, 5-6, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah). Benjamin F.
Johnson, who lived in Pomfret, Chataqua County, New York, with his
parents, remembered in an autobiography he began writing in 1885:

In the year 1829, in our village paper, was published an account of some
young man professing to have seen an angel, who had shown and delivered to
him golden plates, engraved in a strange language and hid up in the earth,
from which he had translated a new Bible, and I could hardly refrain from
wishing or hoping it might be so. I think it was the year previous [1828?] that
there was seen at night in the heavens a large ball of light, like fire, which
passed from the east to the western horizon. My older brothers who were out
hunting coons, saw it and came home to teU of the wonder they had seen.
When I asked mother what its cause or meaning was, she said it was one of the
signs of the near approach of the coming of Christ, or the day of judgment.
This remained upon my mind a subject of deep thought, and I afterwards
learned from those who should know, that this sign was given the night fol¬
lowing the day on which the plates were taken from the earth by the Prophet
Joseph (B. F. Johnson 1947, 9-10).

Atmospheric phenomena such as the northern lights and meteor
showers were occasional events in that time. Parley P. Pratt, for instance,
saw similar phenomena in September 1830 (see VI. F. 6, PARLEY P. PRATT
AUTOBIOGPA.PHY, CIRCA 1854 [PART II], 45-46), and Joseph Smith
recorded a similar sighting in his journal under the date 13 November 1 833
(Faulring 1987, 14). Presently there is no corroborative evidence to support
the early Mormon reminiscences linking atmospheric phenomena and
Smith’s obtaining the plates. Stanley B. Kimball, Heber C. Kimball’s biog¬
rapher, has reported: “The Director of the Local History Division of the
Rochester Public Library and the Monroe County Historian were unable to
locate any contemporary account of this event” (Kimball 1981, 22 n. 10). I
also failed in the attempt. Moreover, if such signs were displayed on the night
of 22 September 1827, both Joseph Smith and his mother Lucy failed to
mention it in their histories. Other observers close to the Mormon advent —
such as Joseph Knight and Martin Harris — are similarly silent. It is not
improbable that atmospheric phenomena occurred in 1827 or 1828, which
at the time were interpreted as a sign of Jesus’ coming but later reinterpreted
and associated with the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. Johnson
admitted that he could not remember when the phenomenon occurred, but
was persuaded by others that it was on 22 September 1827. Likewise, Kimball

356

HEBER C. KIMBALL AUTOBIOGRAPHY, 1864

did not put the two events together in his mind for at least three years,
sometime after he first heard Mormonism preached in 1830. Because it is
the most detailed and elaborate version of the early Mormon myth, perhaps
triggering in Kimball a simultaneous visionary experience, Kimball’s account
is included in this collection.

[23 July 1864]

... Sept. 22, 1827, while living in the town of Mendon, I having retired
to bed, John P. Greene,^ a travelling reformed Methodist preacher, waked
me up calling upon me to behold the scenery in the heavens. I called my
wife^ and sister Fanny Young^ (sister of Brigham Young) who was living
with me; it was so clear that you could see to pick up a pin, we looked to
the eastern horizon and beheld a white smoke arise towards the heavens, and
as it ascended it formed itself into a belt, and made a noise like the rushing
of a mighty wind, and continned [continued] southwest, forming a regular
bow dipping in the western horizon. After the bow had formed it began to
widen out and grow clear and transparent of a blueish cast, it grew wide
enough to contain twelve men abreast.

In this bow an army moved, commencing from the east and marching
to the west. They moved in platoons, and walked so close, the rear ranks
trod in the steps of their file leaders, until the whole bow was literally
crowded with soldiers. We could see distinctly the muskets, bayonets, and
knapsacks of the men, who wore caps and feathers like those used by the
American soldiers in the last war [of 1812] with Britain; also their officers
with their swords and equipage, and heard the clashing and jingling of their
instruments of war and could discover the form and features of the men. The
most profound order existed throughout the entire army, when the foremost
man stepped, every man stepped at the same time: I could hear the step.
When the front rank reached the Western horizon a battle ensued, as we
could distinctly hear the report of the arms and the rush. [p. 472]

[30 July 1864]

No man could judge of my feelings when I beheld that army of men.

1. On John Portineus Greene (1793-1844), see IILK.23, PHINEAS
HOWE YOUNG AUTOBIOGRAPHY, 1863, n. 9.

2. Vilate Murray Kimball, daughter of RosweU and Susannah Murray,
was born in 1806 at Florida, New York. She married Heber C. Kimball in
November 1822 Qenson 1971, 1:34).

3. On Fanny Young (1787-1859), see IILK.23, PHINEAS HOWE
YOUNG AUTOBIOGRAPHY, 1863, n. 5.

357

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

as plainly as I ever saw armies of men in the flesh; it seemed as though every
hair of my head was alive. This scenery we gazed upon for hours, until it
began to disappear.

Subsequently I learned this took place the same evening that Joseph
Smith received the records of the Book of Mormon from the Angel Moroni.
John Young, sen.,"^ and John P. Green’s wife, Rhoda,^ were also witnesses
of this scenery. My wife, Vilate, being frightened at what she saw, said ‘Father
Young, what does ail this mean?’ He replied in a lively, pleased manner,
‘why, its one of the signs of the coming of the Son of Man.’ The next night
similar scenery was beheld in the west, by the neighbors, representing armies
of men who were engaged in battle. ... [p. 487]

4. John Young (1763-1839), father of Brigham Young, was born at
Hopkinton, Massachusetts. He married Abigail (Nabby) Howe in 1785. He is
listed in the 1830 census of Mendon, Monroe County, New York
(1830:116). He was baptized in 1832 and died at Quincy, Illinois (Arrington
1985, 418).

5. Rhoda Young Greene, daughter of John Young, was born in 1789
in Plataua district. New York. She married John Portineus Greene on 11 Feb¬
ruary 1813 (Jenson 1971, 2:633).

358

25.

Silas Hillman Reminiscence, 1866

Silas Hillman, Autobiography (1838-1875), January 1866, Special Collec¬
tions, Herald B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Silas Hillman (1820-?) was born in New York. His parents, Mayhew
(1793-1839) and Sarah (King) Hillman (1797-1870), were converted
through the preaching of Solomon Chamberlain at SpafFord, Onondaga
County, New York, in early 1831 (see III.J.l, SOLOMON CHAMBER-
LAIN ACCOUNTS, 1845 & CIRCA 1858). In the fall of 1833 the Hillmans
moved to Kirtland, Ohio. Afterwards Silas lived in Missouri, then Nauvoo,
Illinois, where in 1843 he married his first wife. After the death of his wife,
he married Emily Ann Cox in 1850. He immigrated to Utah in 1852 and
soon after became a counselor to Bishop Stephen Markham in the Palmyra,
Utah, ward. In 1857 he moved to Spanish Fork, where he was elected justice
of the peace two years later. In 1871 he moved to Faust Station, Rush Valley,
Utah, where his autobiography ends (see Bitton 1977, 157; Backman 1983,
35; Cook and Backman 1985, 87). The portion of HiUman’s autobiography
that follows is his account of his early conversion to Mormonism and is dated
January 1866.

My Father & Mother emigrated when I was three years old from
Washington County[,] St[ate] of N.Y., to the west about 160 miles in the
Same St[ate] the county being new and opened up a new farm we lived there
in a town by the name of Spafford, County ofGea Onon=dagua. In the year
1831, a man by the name of Chamberlain came there bringing the book of
Mormon: he gave a history of its origin, how it was obtained, and its
translation. A young man by the name of Joseph Smith: was visited by an
Angel of the Lord: who informed him that a record of an Ancient people
that once inherited this land was hid up unto the Lord in a cirtain hill in
Palmyra[,] N.Y. He was informed that if he would obey the instruction of
the Angel: that in the due time of the Lord. He shoul[d] have power to obtain
the record and have power given him to translate them, which was fulfilled:
and the man spoken of had the said translation printed and bound. And it
was called the book of Mormon. I believed it when I first became acquainted
with it. I was then only 11 years old: My mother was baptized Soon after

359

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

and father Soon after Mother. Father Sold his farm and in the faul [faU] of
1833 Started for Kirtland[,] Ohio. ...

360

26.

HAMILTON Child Account, 1867

Hamilton Child (1836-?), Gazetteer and Business Directory of Wayne
County, N.Y.for 1867-8 (Syracuse, New York: Journal Office, 1867), 52-54.

... Here [Palmyra, Wayne County, New York] the insidious monster,
Mormonism, was nursed and cradled; which, like the “serpent in Eden,” has
chosen for its victims the fairest of God’s creatures. For 37 years it has dragged
its slimy footsteps through the annals of American history. Its progenitor, [p.
52] Joseph Smith Jr., was born in Sharon, Windson [Windsor] county, Vt.,
Dec. 23, 1805. He removed to Palmyra, with his father, Joseph Sr.,^ and
family, in 1815 or ’16.^ They soon after moved just over the town line into
Manchester, some two miles south-west of Palmyra village. Joseph Smith,
the father of the “Prophet,” previous to the Mormon dispensation, supported
himself and family by digging and peddling “rutes and yarbs,” selling cake,
beer, Scc.^ In 1819 or ’20, they commenced digging for money for a
subsistence."^ The vocation was noised around among the community, and
not a few were credulous enough to believe that they were within reach of
a “chest of gold,” (“which had repeatedly eluded their grasp,”) and contrib¬
uted money to the Smiths to enable them to continue their excavations.
They, however, used the money thus obtained for the support of the family,
and in the meantime kept their friends in a fever of excitement while treasure
hunting. ...^Joseph Smith would repair at night to a cave in the hillside, and
dictate to his amanuensis, (Oliver Cowdery,)^ what he “mysteriously trans¬
lated from golden plates,” which he pretended to have found while digging

1. On Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

2. Joseph Smith, Sr., probably arrived in the summer or fall of 1816,
and Lucy and the children in the winter of 1816-17 (see I.B.5, LUCY
SMITH HISTORY, 1845, n. 69).

3. Compare III.J.5, POMEROY TUCKER REMINISCENCE, 1858.

4. Perhaps following Pomeroy Tucker’s dating (see III.J.8,

POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 19).

5. Child’s brief discussion of the Spaulding theory has been deleted.

6. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

361

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

for money in Sept. 1823, by spirit of revelation, but was not permitted to
take them from the earth until 1827, about the time the Bible was com¬
menced. The greatest secrecy was observed during the pretended revelations,
which were only given in the cave at night, without any light, no one else
being able to read the inscription on the plates but he.^ When it was
completed, they were in a great dilemma to know [p. 53] how they were to
get it printed. This difficulty was soon obviated by Martin Harris,^ a convert,
mortgaging his farm to defray the expenses, ruining himself in doing so.^
Application was made about June 1829, to Mr. Egbert B. Grandin,^^ the
publisher of the Wayne Sentinel at Palmyra, for the printing of the book.^^
Grandin at once advised them against the supposed foUy of the enterprise.
All importunity, however, was resisted by Harris, and resented with assumed
pious indignation by Smith. Upon the refusal of Grandin, they applied the
same year to Mr. Weed, of the Anti-Masonic Inquirer, at Rochester [New
York], and there met with a similar refusal. They again apphed to Mr.
Grandin, who, upon seeing their determination, consented to print it,
stipulating to print 5,000 copies of the book for a compensation of $3,000.

7. The assertion that Smith translated the plates in a cave is repeated in
several sources (e.g.. Ill J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 48-
49).

8. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

9. See IILL.14, MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829.

10. On Egbert B. Grandin (1806-45), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 77.

11. Compare IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 50.

12. See IILK.17, THURLOW WEED REMINISCENCES, 1854,
1858, 1880 & 1884.

362

27.

Thomas Davies Burrall B^miniscence, 1867

“Joe Smith, the Mormon Prophet,” Rochester Daily Union and Advertiser 40
(1 October 1867): 3. Reprinted in Louisville (Kentucky) Daily Courier 36 (5
October 1867): 1.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Thomas Davies Burrall (1786-1872) settled in Geneva, New York, in
1812. He purchased a large tract of land in 1814. Most of the 370-acre lot
was timbered, so he employed a large number of wood cutters to clear the
land. For convenience Burrall divided the men into groups of ten to fifteen,
each group headed by a foreman who paid the men under him. The foreman
of one of the groups was a “Joe Smith,” whom Burrall mistook for the Joseph
Smith he later heard had become the Mormon prophet. The history of
Geneva published in 1912 evidently relates the same story:

Joe Smith from about 1812, was a laborer on the farm in what is now the
northern section of Geneva. It was said of him at this time that he was in every
way unworthy of confidence, in fact, an unprincipled scalawag. But this
Smith, a Httle after being discharged for dishonesty, “discovered” in the west¬
ern part of Ontario County the gold plates of the book of Mormon, upon
which later the Mormon Church was founded. ... (Monroe 1912, 40-41).

The claim that Joseph Smith was a laborer on a Geneva farm from 1812
to 1820 has obvious difficulties since Smith was only seven to twelve years
of age and his family did not arrive in the area from Vermont until 1816-17.
Burrall obviously employed a much older man named “Joe Smith” and
confused him with the Mormon prophet.

Burrall also includes an account of Martin Harris’s application for a loan
with the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company of Geneva, which
Charles Butler verified had occurred (see III.F.3, MARTIN HARRIS
INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES BUTLER, CIRCA 1830-1831).

MESSRS. EDITORS: — In your last evening’s paper (Saturday) in speaking
of Mr. Tucker’s forthcoming book on Mormonism, you ask who and what
was Joe Smith, and you speak of men in Western New York who can
intelligently answer these and more questions from personal knowledge.

I knew him weU before his book was published. He was then a wood-

363

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

cutter on my farm, more willing to live by his wits than his axe, and worked
through the winter in company with some twenty or thirty others, rough
back-woodsmen. He and his two associates built a rude cabin of poles and
brush, covered with leaves and earth, in the woods open to the south, with
a camp-kettle in front for cooking; and here, at night, around a huge fire, he
and his companions would gather, ten or a dozen at a time, to tell hard stories,
and sing songs and drink cheap whisky, (two shillings per gallons [)], and
although there were some hard cases among them, Joe could beat them all
for tough stories and impracticable adventures, and it was in this school, I
believe, that he first conceived his wonderful invention of the golden plates
and marvelous revelations. And as these exercises were rehearsed nightly to
his hearers, and as their ears grew longer to receive them, so his tales grew
the more marvelous to please them, until some of them supposed that he also
believed his own stories. But of this fact there is no proof. He was impudent
and assuming among his fellows, but ignorant and dishonest, plausible and
obsequious to others, with sufficient low cunning to conceal his ignorance,
but in my estimation, utterly unqualified to compose even such a jumble of
truth and fiction as his book contained.

The most probable theory of its origin that I remember to have heard,
is that it was the strange work of an eccentric Vermont clergyman, written
to while away the tedious hours of long confinement by nervous debility,
and that this idle production, after his decease, fell into Joe’s hands, and that
having learned something of the gullibility of his cronies, this incidental
matter incited in him the first idea of turning his foolish stories to account,
and thus enable him to make the surreptitious manuscript the text-book of
his gross imposition. I speak understandingly in saying he was shameless as
well as dishonest, and I relate a small matter to prove it. During the winter
he was chopping for me, I was in the habit of riding through the clearing
daily to see that the brush was piled as agreed, the wood fairly corded and
no scattering trees left uncut, and in this way became well acquainted with
the conduct of every man; and on each Saturday took an account and paid
the hands. My mode was to ride around while each party measured their
ranks and turned a few sticks on the top to show they had been counted. In
this way I one day took Joe’s account, he accompanying me and removing
the sticks on the top of each rank. After thus going the rounds and returning
to the shanty, he said he had another rank or two that I had not seen, and
led me in a different direction in a roundabout way, to wood that I had
already measured, but the sticks on top had all been laid back to their places.
I saw the trick at once, and could only make him confess his attempt to cheat
by re-measuring the whole lot; and all this he thought would have been a

364

THOMAS DAVIES BURRALL REMINISCENCE, 1867

fair trick if I had not found it out. So much for the man in small things.

After he left in the spring I lost sight of him until my friend
Judge Whiting^ (long since deceased) of the very respectable firm of
Whiting & Butler, attorneys, who was then loaning money on mort¬
gages for a trust company, asked me if I knew anything about Joe
Smith. I told him that I knew him for a great rogue in a small way,
when he informed me that he pretended to be a prophet, and was
about publishing a Book of Revelations; and had induced two credu¬
lous men in Palmyra to apply to him (Judge W[hiting].) for money on
mortgage to publish it.^

I learned afterward that Joe and an associate had prevailed on a
worthy citizen of Waterloo (Col. C.)^ who was then in a state of great
depression from the recent loss of his wife, to join their fraternity and
cast in his lot among them; and that while they were at his house tak¬
ing an inventory of his effects for the purpose, his son, a spirited young
man, came in, and on finding what they were about threatened them
so strongly with a prosecution as swindlers, that they left for the time
until his father had recovered from his delusion, and thus escaped them.

I know nothing further of his doings here, but after his removal to
Ohio, when he established a bank that failed, I was shown one of his bills,
and I recollect that on examining it I thought the device on the face of it was
most admirably appropriate, viz: A sturdy fellow shearing a sheep.

T.D.B.

1. Bowen Whiting was state senator, district attorney of Ontario
County, and partner with Charles Butler in the New York Life Insurance
and Trust Company of Geneva (see III.F.3, MARTIN HAPJLIS INTER¬
VIEW WITH CHARLES BUTLER, CIRCA 1830-1831). Whiting, in his
thirties, is listed in the 1830 census of Seneca, Ontario County, New York
(1830:84; also 1840:125).

2. Martin Harris applied for a second mortgage on his farm with Char¬
les Butler, perhaps in 1830 or early 1831 (see IILF.3, MARTIN HARRIS
INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES BUTLER, CIRCA 1830-1831). On the
claim that there were “two credulous men” who mortgaged their farms to
pay for the Book of Mormon’s printing, see also IILJ.26, DANIEL HEN¬
DRIX ILEMINISCENCE, 1879, where it is stated that in addition to Harris
a Mr. “Andrews” of Auburn, New York, mortgaged property in order to
raise publication funds. However, since Harris’s mortgage was sufficient to
cover the entire cost of printing, there was no need for an additional mort¬
gager.

3. This person remains unidentified.

365

28.

W. H. MCINTOSH,

HISTORY OF Ontario county (NY), 1876

[W. H. McIntosh], History of Ontario Co., New York (Philadelphia: Everts,
Ensign and Everts, 1876), 42-43.

EDITORIAL NOTE

W. H. McIntosh^ based his account of early Mormonism on those of
Orsamus Turner and Pomeroy Tucker (see IILJ.2, ORSAMUS TURNER
ACCOUNT, 1851; and IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT,
1867). See also III.K.29, W. H. MCINTOSH, HISTORY OF WAYNE
COUNTY {NY), 1877.

... Mormonism had its origin in Ontario County. The natural credulity
of the ignorant has ever made them the dupes of design, and there has never
been a creed promulgated so fallacious or so monstrous but that it has found
followers. Indignant citizens have ejected the contaminating influence from
their midst, and, glorified by persecution, the evil has grown and perpetuated
itself. Time hallows the past, custom sanctions usage, and the usurper in the
course of events becomes authority. The society of Jemima Wilkinson soon
dissolved, but the new religion with active workers drew proselytes from
every quarter, and numbers thousands of firm believers. It is of interest, then,
to place on record here a brief outline of its founder. The father of Joseph
Smith^ was from near the Merrimac river. New Hampshire. His first
settlement was in or near Palmyra village, but in 1819 he became the
occupant of new land on Stafford street, Manchester, near the Palmyra line.
His cabin was of the rudest, and a small tract about it was underbrushed as a
clearing. He had been a Universalist, but had changed to Methodism. His
character was that of a weak, credulous, litigious man.^

1. I have been unable to specifically identify W. H. McIntosh. The
Family History Library of the LDS church. Salt Lake City, identifies him as
Walter H. McIntosh, but I have been unable to verify this identification.

2. On Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

3. Compare this paragraph with III.J.2, ORSAMUS TURNER AC¬
COUNT, 1851; and III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867,
212-13.

366

W. H. MCINTOSH, HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY (NY), 1876

Mrs. Smith, originally designing profit and notoriety, was the source
from which the religion of the Latter-Day Saints was to originate. The Smiths
had two sons. The elder, Alvah [Alvin], ^ sickened and died, and Joseph was
designated as the coming prophet, — a subject the most unpromising in
appearance and abihty. Legends of hidden treasure had pointed to Mormon
Hill as the depository. Father and son had visited the place and dug for buried
wealth by midnight, and it seemed natural that the Smiths should in time
connect themselves with the plan of a new creed, with Joseph Smith as the
founder. As the scheme developed, Oliver Cowdery^ and Martin Harris^
gave it their support, and Sydney Pdgdon^ joined the movement later.
Cowdery was a school-teacher in the district, and intimate with the Smiths.
Harris was owner of a good farm two miles north of Palmyra village. The
farm went to pay for the publication of the Mormon Bible. Harris was an
honest, worthy man, but a religious enthusiast. Rigdon came from Ohio,
and attached himself to the scheme of imposture. He had been a Baptist
preacher, but had forfeited his standing by disreputable action. His character
was that of a designing, dishonest, disreputable man. In him the Smiths found
an able manager, and he found them fit agents of his schemes. Joseph Smith,
Jr., had in his possession a miraculous stone, opaque to others, luminous and
transparent to himself. It was of the common hornblende variety, and was
kept in a box, carefully wrapped in cotton. Placed in a hat, and looked upon.
Smith alleged ability to locate hidden treasure. Mrs. Smith made and sold
oil-cloths, and, while so engaged, prophesied a new religion, of which her
son should be the prophet. One morning as the settlers went to their work
a rumor circulated that the Smiths, in a midnight expedition, had com¬
menced digging on the northwest spur of Mormon Hill, and had unearthed
several heavy golden tablets covered with hieroglyphics. It was stated that
Joseph was able to translate this record, and was engaged upon the work. To
make money and indulge a love of notoriety was the first plan, and to found
a new religion a later thought. The mysterious symbols were to be translated

4. On Lucy Smith (1775-1856), see “Introduction to Lucy Smith Col¬
lection.”

5. On Alvin Smith (1798-1823), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 10.

6. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow¬
dery Collection.”

7. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

8. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to LA.13, SID¬
NEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

367

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

and published in book-form. Money was wanted, and Harris mortgaged his
farm for two thousand five hundred doUars, which was to secure him half
the proceeds of the sales of the Gold Bible. Joseph Smith told Harris that an
angel had directed where on Mormon Hill the golden plates lay buried, and
he himself unwillingly must interpret and publish the sacred writing, which
was alleged to contain a record of the ancients of America, engraved by Mor¬
mon, the son of Neephi [Nephi] . Upon the box in which were the plates had
been found large spectacles, whose glasses were transparent only to the
prophet. None save Smith were to see the plates, on pain of death. Harris and
Cowdery were the amanuenses, who wrote as Smith, screened from their
view, dictated. Days passed, and the work proceeded. Harris took his copy
home, to place in the hands of the type-setters. His wife a woman of sense and
energy. She seized one hundred pages of the new revelation, and they were
burned or concealed. This portion was not again written, lest the first being
found, the versions should not agree. The author of the manuscript pages from
which the book was published is unknown. One theory gives them as the
work of a Mr. Spaulding, of Ohio, who wrote it as a religious novel, left the
manuscript with a printer, and, being appropriated by Rigdon, was brought to
Manchester and turned to account.^ The general and most probable opinion is
that Smith and Cowdery were the authors, from these reasons: it is a poor at¬
tempt at counterfeiting the Scriptures; modern language is inconsistently
blended, and chronology and geography are at variance. It is a strange medley
of Scripture, to which is appended a “Book of Commandments,” the work of
Rigdon, perhaps assisted by Spaulding’s papers. The date of the Gold Bible is
fixed as the fall of 1827. The first edition of the Book of Mormon was printed
by E. B. Grandin,^^ of Palmyra, New York, and consisted of five thousand
copies. The work of printing began June [18]29. It was completed in 1830, and
offered for sale at [p. 42] one dollar and twenty-five cents per copy, but it
would not seh. Smith went to Pennsylvania, clad in a new suit from funds pro¬
vided by Harris; here he married a daughter of Isaac Hale,^^ and both were
baptized by Rigdon after the Mormon ritual. This wife is living near Nau-

9. On the Spaulding theory of the Book of Mormon’s origin, see Bush

1977.

10. On Egbert B. Grandin (1806-45), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 77.

11. On Emma Hale Smith (1804-79), see “Introduction to Emma
Smith Collection.”

12. This error was probably based on IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER
ACCOUNT, 1867, 56. Joseph Smith was baptized by Oliver Cowdery on
15 May 1829, and Emma Smith by Cowdery on 28 June 1830. This occurred

368

W. H. MCINTOSH, HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY (NY), 1876

voo, Illinois, in comfortable circumstances. The original edition of the book
has this preface: “The Book of Mormon; an account, written by the hand of
Mormon upon plates taken from the plates of Nephi,” and concludes with “By
Joseph Smith, Jr., Author 2ind Proprietor.'’ Later editions designate Smith “trans¬
lator.” The contents give fifteen “Books,” and the edition contains five hun¬
dred and eighty-eight pages, common duodecimo, small pica letter. A formal
organization was desirable. A meeting was held at the house ofjoseph Smith,
Sr., injune [April?], 1830. The exercises consisted of readings and interpreta¬
tions of the new Bible. Smith, Sr., was installed “Patriarch and President of
Latter-Day Saints.” ^ Cowdery and Harris were given limited and conditional
offices. From the house the party adjourned to a brook near by, where a pool
had been made by the construction of a small dam. Harris and Cowdery were
first baptized at their own request. The latter, now qualified, administered
the same rite to Joseph Smith, Sr., Mrs. Smith, his wife, Hiram Page, Mrs.
Rockwell, Dolly Proper, and some of the Whitemer brothers. Calvin Stod-
dard,^^ a neighbor, early believed in Mormonism, and was possessed with the
notion that he should go out and preach the gospel. While in a state of doubt,
two men, Stephen S. Harding^^ and Abner Tucker, played a practical joke,
which confirmed his faith. At midnight they repaired to his house, struck three
heavy blows with a stone upon his door, awaking him; then one solemnly
spoke, “Calvin Stoddard! the angel of the Lord commands that before another
going down of the sun thou shalt go forth among the people and preach the
gospel of Nephi, or thy wife shall be a widow, thy children orphans, and thy
ashes scattered to the four winds of heaven.

prior to Rigdon’s arrival in December 1830.

13. This did not occur until 1833 (see “Introduction to Joseph Smith,
Sr., CoUection”). Compare III J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT,
1867, 58.

14. Cowdery had been baptized by Joseph Smith on 15 May 1829,
and Cowdery baptized Martin Harris on 6 April 1830.

15. See III J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 59, and
n. 115 for correction.

16. On Calvin Stoddard (1801-36), see IILJ.7, STEPHEN S. HARD¬
ING TO POMEROY TUCKER, 1 JUN 1867, n. 9.

17. On Stephen S. Harding (1808-?), see introduction to IILJ.7,
STEPHEN S. HARDING TO POMEROY TUCKER, 1 JUN 1867.

18. On Abner Tucker, see IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867, n. 127.

19. This story is told in IILJ.7, STEPHEN S. HARDING TO
POMEROY TUCKER, 1 JUN 1867, 285-86; and IILJ.8, POMEROY
TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 79-81.

369

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

Next day the first Mormon missionary, in full faith, began to preach
from house to house, and so began that missionary system so successful and
so potential to this new sect. Soon after organizing, the Mormons migrated
to Kirtland, Ohio. ...^^

20. In addition to his account of early Mormonism, McIntosh incor¬
rectly claimed (on p. 59) that the paper on which the first edition of the
Book of Mormon was printed came from a mill at Canandaigua. But this
claim was challenged by Stephen Brewster, one of the proprietors of the
Shortsville paper mill who said Grandin’s paper came from Shortsville
{Shortsville Enterprise, 17 April 1903; Backman 1980, 33). An earlier account
also stated that the Book of Mormon was printed “on paper manufactured at
Shortsville, by Case & Brown — size 22 x 32” {Wayne County Journal, 19 April
1877; see also Glen M. Leonard, Church News, 31 March 1990). See also
IILK.34, WAYNE COUNTY (NY) JOURNAL, 23 APR 1908, which incor¬
rectly asserted that the Book of Mormon was printed on paper from the firm
of AUing & Cary of Rochester.

370

29.

W. H. MCINTOSH,

HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY (NY), 1877

[W. H. McIntosh], History of Wayne County, New York (Philadelphia: Everts,
Ensign & Everts, 1877), 149-51.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Under the subheading “Mormonism and Its Founder,” W. H. McIn¬
tosh gives an account of Mormon origins in Wayne and Ontario Counties.
His account is largely based on Pomeroy Tucker’s 1867 history (see III.J.8,
POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867).

Mormonism had its origin with the family of Joseph Smith, Sr.,^ who
came in the summer of 1816, from Royalton, Vermont, and settled in the
village of Palmyra.^ The family consisted of nine children, viz.: Alvin, Hiram,
Sophronia, Joseph, Samuel H., William, Catharine, Carlos, and Lucy.^
Arrived at Palmyra the elder Smith opened a “cake and beer shop,” as his
sign indicated, and the profits of the shop, combined with occasional earnings
by himself and eldest sons at harvesting, well-digging, and other common
employments, enabled him to provide an honest living for the family. The
shop, with its confectionery, ginger-bread, root-beer, and such articles, was
well patronized by the village and country youth, and on public occasions
did a lively business. A hand-cart, fashioned by Joseph Smith, Sr., was
employed to peddle his wares through the streets. For two and a half years
the family resided in the village, and in 1818 settled upon a wild tract of land
located about two miles south of Palmyra. Anticipating a removal hither, a

1. On Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

2. Although they had twice lived in Royalton, the Smiths immigrated
to New York from Norwich, Vermont.

3. On Alvin, Hyrum, Sophronia, Samuel Harrison, Don Carlos, and
Lucy Smith, see I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, nn. 10, 12, 13,
15, 16, 18. On William Smith, see “Introduction to William Smith Collec¬
tion”; and on Katharine Smith, see “Introduction to Katharine Smith Collec¬
tion.” However, Lucy Smith (1821-82) did not arrive with the Smith family
from Vermont, but was born in Palmyra, New York.

371

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

small log house had been built, and in this they made their home for a dozen
years/ The cabin contained two rooms on the ground floor, and [p. 149] a
garret had two divisions. Some time after occupation a wing was built of
slabs for a sleeping-apartment.

The land thus settled was owned by non-resident minor heirs, who had
no local agent to look after it; hence the squatters were not disturbed. Mr.
Smith finally contracted for the land, made a small payment, and occupied
the tract till 1829, when the new religion was ushered into existence. The
family were an exception to Vermonters, and did little to improve their state
or clear the land. A short time before leaving the farm they erected the frame
of a small house and partially inclosed it, and here they lived in the unfinished
building till they took their departure. The old cabin was put to use as a barn.
The Smiths left in 1831, and that once wild tract, the abode of the squatter
family, is now a well-organized farm located on Stafford street, running south
of the village. The Smiths obtained a livelihood from this lot by the sale of
cordwood, baskets, birch-brooms, maple-sugar, and syrup, and on public
days resumed the cake and beer business in Palmyra. Much the larger portion
of the time of the Smiths was employed in hunting, trapping muskrats,
fishing, and lounging at the village. Joseph, Jr., was active in catching
woodchucks, but practically ignored work.

Nocturnal depredations occurred among neighbors, and suspicion
rested upon the family, but no proof of their being implicated has been
adduced. “A shiftless set” was an appropriate designation to the Smiths, and
Joseph, Jr., was the worst of the lot. During his minority he is recalled as
indolent and mendacious. In appearance dull-eyed, tow-haired, and of
shiftless manner. Taciturn unless addressed, he was not believed when he did
speak. He was given to mischief and mysterious pretense, was good-natured,
and was never known to laugh. Having learned to read, the lives of criminals
engrossed his attention, till from study of the Bible he became familiar with
portions of the Scripture, and especially found interest in revelation and
prophecy. Revivals occurred, and Smith joined a class of probationers in the
Methodist church of Palmyra, but soon withdrew.

In September, 1819,^ the elder Smith and his sons Alvin and Hiram,
in digging a well near Palmyra, threw up a stone of vitreous though opaque
appearance, and in form like an infant’s foot. This stone was secured by

4. The Smiths also constructed a frame house, which was completed in
the fall of 1825.

5. The stone was found while digging a well on the Chase property in
1822 (see IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, n. 32).

372

W. H. MCINTOSH, HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY (NY), 1877

Joseph, and turned to account as a revelator of present and future. In the role
of fortune-teller, small amounts were received from the credulous, and the
impostor was encouraged to enlarge his field by asserting a vision of gold and
silver buried in iron chests in the vicinity. The stone was finally placed in his
hat to shade its marvelous brightness when its services were required.
Persisting in his assertions, there were those who in the spring of 1820^
contributed to defray the expenses of digging for the buried treasure. At
midnight, dupes, laborers, and himself, with lanterns, repaired to the hill-side
near the house of Smith, where, following mystic ceremony, digging began
by signal in enjoined silence. Two hours elapsed, when, just as the money¬
box was about to be unearthed, some one spoke and the treasure vanished.
This was the explanation of the failure, and it was sufficient for the party.
The deception was repeated from time to time in the interval between 1820
and 1827, and, despite the illusory searches for money, he obtained contri¬
butions which went towards the maintenance of the family.

A single instance illustrates the mode of procedure at a search for
money. Assuming to see where treasure lay entombed. Smith asserted that a
“black sheep’’ was necessary, as an offering upon the ground, before the work
of digging could begin. William Stafford,^ a farmer, had a fat black wether,
and agreed to furnish the sacrifice in consideration of an equitable division
of the results of the venture. The party repaired with lanterns at the appointed
hour of the night to the chosen spot; Smith traced a circle, within which the
wether was placed and his throat cut; the blood saturated the ground, and
silently and solemnly, but with vigor, excavation began. Three hours of futile
labor ensued, when it was discovered that the elder Smith, assisted by a son,
had taken away the sheep and laid in a stock of mutton for family use. Such
were the foolish and worse than puerile acts which served as a prelude to the
crowning act in the life ofjoseph Smith, — the inauguration of Mormonism.^

In the summer of 1827 a stranger appeared, and made frequent visits at
the Smith cabin. ^ Smith announced a vision wherein an angel had appeared
and promised the revelation of a true and fiiU gospel, which should supersede
aU others. Again the angel appeared to Smith, and revealed “That the

6. See III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, n. 35.

7. On WiUiam Stafford (c. 1786-1863), see introduction to III. A. 13,
WILLIAM STAFFOBJT STATEMENT, 8 DEC 1833.

8. Regarding the sacrifice of Stafford’s sheep, consult IILA.13, WIL¬
LIAM STAFFORD STATEMENT, 8 DEC 1833, 239; and ILJ.8,
POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 23-24.

9. Concerning the appearance of this stranger, see IILJ.8, POMEROY
TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, n. 42.

373

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

American Indians were a remnant of the Israelites, who, after coming to this
country, had their prophets and inspired writings; that such of their writings
as had not been destroyed were safely deposited in a certain place made
known to him, and to him only; that they contained revelations in regard to
the last days; and that, if he remained faithful, he would be the chosen prophet
to translate them to the world.”

Fall came, and Smith assumed the role of a prophet. He told his family,
friends, and believers, that upon a fixed day he was to proceed alone to a
spot designated by an angel, and there withdraw from the earth a metallic
book of great antiquity, — in short, a hieroglyphic record of the lost tribes
and original inhabitants of America. This mystic volume Smith alone could
translate, and power was given him as the Divine agent. The expectant
revelation was duly advertised, when the prophet, with spade and napkin,
repaired to the forest, and at the end of some three hours returned with some
object encased in the napkin. The first depositary of the sacred plates was
under the heavy hearthstone of the Smith cabin. Willard Chase, a carpenter
and joiner, was solicited to make a strong chest wherein to keep the golden
book in security, but no payment being anticipated, the interview was
fruitless. Later a chest was procured, and kept in the garret. Here Smith
consulted the volume upon which no other could look and live. William T.
Hussy^^ and Ashley Vanduzer,^^ intimates of Smith, resolved to see the book,
and were permitted to observe its shape and size under a piece of canvas.
Smith refused to uncover it, and Hussy, seizing it, stripped off the cover, and
found — a tile-brick. Smith claimed to have sold his visitors by a trick, and
treating them to liquor, the matter ended amicably. A huge pair of
spectacles were asserted to have been found with the book, and these were
the agency by which translation was to be effected. A revelation of a Golden
Bible, or Book of Mormon, was announced, and the locality whence the
book was claimed to have been taken has since been known as “Mormon
Hill,” and is located in the town of Manchester. Smith described the book
“as consisting of metallic leaves or plates resembling gold, bound together in

10. On Willard Chase (1798-1871), see introduction to IILA.14, WIL¬
LARD CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11 DEC 1834.

11. On William T. Hussy, see LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY,

1845, n. 222.

12. On Azel Vanduver, see IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867, n. 50; and introduction to IILL.9, PALMYILA [NY] MA¬
SONIC PECORDS, 1827-1828.

13. Compare IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 31-
32.

374

W. H. MCINTOSH, HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY (NY), 1877

a volume by three rings running through one edge of them, the leaves
opening like an ordinary paper book.” Translation began, and the result was
shown to ministers and men of education. The “Nephites” and “Lamanites”
were outlined as the progenitors of the American aborigines. The Bible was
evidently the basis of the work, and portions of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and
Matthew were almost bodily employed. Smith, being unable to write, sat
behind a blanket and evidently read to his scribe, whose name was Oliver
Cowdery, who had been a schoolmaster, and wrote at dictation. It was
desirable to get this manuscript into print. George Crane, of Macedon, a
Quaker, and a man of intelligence, was shown several quires of the “trans¬
lations.” His opinion was asked and his aid solicited. Mr. Crane advised Smith
to give up his scheme, or ruin would result to him, and, as is well known,
the Friend spoke prophetically.^^

Followers may be obtained for any creed. He formed an organi¬
zation denominated “Latter-Day Saints.” They are enumerated as Oliver
Cowdery, Samuel Lawrence, Martin Harris, Preserved Harris, Peter
Ingersoll, Charles Ford, George and Dolly Proper, of Palmyra, Ziba Pe¬
terson, Calvin Stoddard and wife Sophronia, of Macedon, Ezra Thayer,
of Brighton, Leeman Walters, of Pultneyville, Hiram Page, of Fayette,
David Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, as well as Christian, John, and Peter,
Jr., of Phelps, Simeon Nichols, of Farmington, Wilham, Joshua, and
Gad Stafford, David and Abram Fish, Robert Orr, K. H. Quance, John
Morgan, Orrin and Caroline Rockwell, Mrs. S[ally]. Risley, and the
Smith family.^^ A man named Parley P. Pratt,^^ from Ohio, stepped off
a canal-boat at Palmyra, and joined the organization. Martin Harris de¬
sired the new book printed, and avowed to his wife his intention of
incurring the expense. She knew that the result would be a loss of the
farm, and while her husband slept secured and burnt the manuscript.
The burning she kept secret, and Smith and Harris, fearing that they
might be produced, dared not rewrite the manuscript. Again translation
was effected, this time within a cave dug in the east side of the forest
hill, and guarded by one or more disciples. In June, 1829, Smith, ac¬
companied by his brother Hiram, Cowdery, and Harris, called on Eg-

14. On George Crane, see IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867, n. 55.

15. Compare IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 37.

16. Compare this list of persons with IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER
ACCOUNT, 1867, 39.

17. On Parley Parker Pratt (1807-57), see introduction to PARLEY P.
PILATT AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PART I), CIRCA 1854.

375

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

bert B. Grandin/^ publisher of the Wayne Sentinel, at Palmyra, and in¬
quired the cost of an edition of three thousand copies. An estimate was
furnished, but publication refused. An application to Thurlow Weed,^^
of the Anti-Masonic Inquirer, at Rochester, met a like rebuff, and Harris
was advised “not to beggar his family.” Elihu F. Marshall,^^ a book
publisher of Rochester, gave terms. Mr. Grandin was again visited, and
a contract was made whereby for three thousand doUars five thousand
copies of the Book of Mormon were printed, bound, and delivered in
the summer of 1830. Harris gave bond and mortgage in security for
payment. John H. Gilbert^^ did the type-setting and press-work, and re¬
tained a copy of the book in the original sheets. Harris and his wife
separated. She received eighty acres of land, and occupied her property
in comfort till her death. The mortgaged farm was sold in 1831. It is
land located a mile and a half north of Palmyra. Anticipating profits
from the sale of the work. Smith obtained cloth for a suit of clothing
from the store of David S. Aldrich,^^ of Palmyra, and in November,
1829, went to northern Pennsylvania, where he was married by Sidney
Rigdon,^^ after the Mormon ritual, to a daughter of Isaac Hale.^"^

In June [April], 1830, the organization took place. Smith read and
expounded some passages of the new bible, and then installed his father as
“Patriarch and President of the Church of Latter-Day Saints,” while Harris
and Cowdery were invested with limited authority. Baptism was adminis¬
tered by Smith to Cowdery, and Harris’ and other baptisms were conducted
by Cowdery. The pool where the rite was celebrated was formed by

18. On Egbert B. Grandin (1806-45), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 77.

19. On Thurlow Weed (1797-1882), see introduction to III.K.17,
THURLOW WEED REMINISCENCES, 1854, 1858, 1880 & 1884.

20. On Elihu F. MarshaU, see IILJ.5, POMEROY TUCKER REMI¬
NISCENCE, 1858, n. 6.

21. On John H. Gilbert (1802-95), see “Introduction to John H. Gil¬
bert Collection.”

22. On David S. Aldrich, see III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867, n. 108.

23. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to LA. 13, SID¬
NEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

24. Compare IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER REMINISCENCE,

1867, 56. Emma Smith specifically denied this accusation (see LF.3, EMMA
SMITH BIDAMON INTERVIEW WITH JOSEPH SMITH III, FEB
1879, 289). Joseph Smith and Emma Hale were married on 18 January 1827
by Justice TarbeU of South Bainbridge, New York.

376

W. H. MCINTOSH, HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY (NY), 1877

obstructing a brook near the place of assembly. Smith was not baptized, he
averring that brother Rigdon had performed the ceremony in Pennsylva¬
nia.^^ [p. 150]

A few days elapsed, and a party of about a dozen went to Fayette, and
similar observances, in the presence of a congregation of about thirty persons,
followed. Sidney Rigdon, a renegade Baptist clergyman, resident in Ohio,
had so far kept in the background. He now came to Palmyra as the first
regular Mormon preacher. All the churches were closed to him, but the hall
of the Palmyra Y oung Men’s Association was opened, and a small audience
assembled to hear the first discourse. The attempt was never repeated by
Rigdon or any other of his creed in Palmyra. In the summer of 1830, the
Mormon founders removed to Kirtland, Ohio, and from Pdgdon’s former
congregation increased their number, till over one hundred persons had
embraced Mormonism. The imposture was now under headway, and the
“prophet” and his followers had departed from western New York, and with
them we have done. ...

25. This is incorrect as Joseph Smith had been baptized by Oliver
Cowdery on 15 May 1829.

377

30.

BRIGHAM YOUNG ACCOUNT, 1877

1. “Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered at a Special
Conference Held at Farmington [Utah], for the Purpose of
Organizing a Stake of Zion for the County of Davis, on Sunday
Afternoon, June 17, 1871 Journal of Discourses of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, 26 vols. (Liverpool: Albert Carrington
[and others], 1853-1886), 19:37-38.

2. “A Life Sketch of William Blood,” 64-65, LDS Church Archives,
Salt Lake City, Utah.

EDITORIAL NOTE

In a sermon delivered about two months prior to his death, Brigham
Young (1801-77) related a story told to him by Orrin Porter Rockwell
(1813-78) of digging for an enchanted treasure chest in Manchester, New
York, and another story related by Oliver Cowdery (1806-50) of returning
the gold plates to a cave in the Hill Cumorah.

[1. Official Version]

... Orin P. Rockwell^ is an eye-witness to some powers of removing
the treasures of the earth. He was with certain parties that lived near by where
the plates were found that contain the records of the Book of Mormon.
There were a great many treasures hid up by the Nephites. Porter was with
them one night where there were treasures, and they could find them easy
enough, but they could not obtain them.

I wiU teU you a story which will be marvelous to most of you. It was
told me by Porter, whom I would believe just as quickly as any man that
lives. When he teUs a thing he understands, he will tell it just as he knows
it; he is a man that does not lie. He said that on this night, when they were
engaged hunting for this old treasure, they dug around the end of a chest for
some twenty inches. The chest was about three feet square. One man who
was determined to have the contents of that chest, took his pick and struck

1. On Orrin Porter Rockwell (1813-78), see LA. 15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 121.

378

BRIGHAM YOUNG ACCOUNT, 1877

into the lid of it, and split through into the chest. The blow took off a piece
of the lid, which a certain lady kept in her possession until she died.^ That
chest of money went into the bank. Porter describes it so [making a rumbling
sound]^; he says this is just as true as the heavens are. I have heard others tell
the same story. I relate this because it is [p. 37] marvelous to you. But to
those who understand these things, it is not marvelous.

... I could relate many very singular circumstances. I lived right in the
country where the plates were found from which the Book of Mormon was
translated, and I know a great many things pertaining to that country. I
believe I will take the liberty to tell you of another circumstance that will be
as marvelous as anything can be. This is an incident in the life of Oliver
Cowdery,"^ but he did not take the liberty of telling such things in meeting
as I take. I tell these things to you, and I have a motive for doing so. I want
to carry them to the ears of my brethren and sisters, and to the children also,
that they may grow to an understanding of some things that seem to be
entirely hidden from the human family. Oliver Cowdery went with the
Prophet Joseph when he deposited these plates. Joseph did not translate all
of the plates; there was a portion of them sealed, which you can learn from
the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. When Joseph got the plates, the angel
instructed him to carry them back to the hill Cumorah, which he did. Oliver
[Cowdery] says that when Joseph and Oliver went there, the hill opened,
and they walked into a cave,^ in which there was a large and spacious room.

2. Sixteen years earlier, Brigham Young privately identified the
woman as Lucy Smith (Brigham Young, Office Journal, 21 November 1861;
cited in Quinn 1987, 49). William Blood’s version of Young’s statement sig¬
nificantly varies from the official version by assigning the event to Kirtland,
Ohio (see below). Compare Joshua Stafford’s statement that “Joseph once
showed me a piece of wood which he said he took from a box of money,
and the reason he gave for not obtaining the box was, that it moved'' (III.A.4,
JOSHUA STAFFOPJD STATEMENT, 15 NOV 1833, 258).

3. Bracketed material in original.

4. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow¬
dery Collection.”

5. Earlier, on 11 December 1869, Young had told the School of the
Prophets: “... in relation to Joseph Smith retum=ing the Plates of the Book
of Mormon that He did not return them to the Box from wh[ence?] He had
Received [them] [.] But He went [into?] a Cave in the Hill Comora with
Oliver Cowdry & deposited those plates upon a table or shelf & in that room
were deposited a large amount of gold plates Containing sacred records, &
when they first visited that Room the sword of Laban was Hanging upon the
waU & when they last visited it the sword was drawn from the scabbard &

379

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

He says he did not think, at the time, whether they had the light of the sun
or artificial light; but that it was just as light as day. They laid the plates on
a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under this table there was
a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and there were altogether in this
room more plates than probably many wagon loads; they were piled up in
the corners and along the walls. The first time they went there the sword of
Laban hung upon the wall; but when they went again it had been take down

lain upon the table & a Messenger who was the keeper of the room informed
them that that sword would never be returned to its scabbard untill the King¬
dom of God was established upon the Earth & untill it reigned triumphant
over Evry Enemy[.] Joseph Smith said that Cave Contained tons of Choice
Treasures & records” (Journal of Wilford Woodruff, LDS Church Archives;
also cited in Kenney 1983-84, 6:508-9). The earliest known account of the
cave story was given by William W. Phelps in 1855, who said he heard it
from Hymm Smith. According to this account, “Joseph, Hyrum, Cowdery &
Whitmere went to the hiU Cormorah. As they were walking up the hill, a
door opened and they walked into a room about 16 ft square. In that room
was an angel and a trunk. On that trunk lay a book of Mormon & gold
plates, Laban’s sword, Aaron’s breastplate” (William H. Dame, Journal, 14
January 1855, typescript, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham
Young University, Provo, Utah). The following year Heber C. Kimball
spoke of “the vision that Joseph and others had, when they went into a cave
in the hill Cumorah, and saw more records than ten men could carry? There
were books piled up on tables, book upon book” (Young et al. 1853-86,
4:105). In a private meeting in 1867 Kimball expanded upon this “vision,”
telling some missionaries “about Father Smith, Oliver Cowdery and others
walking into the Hill Cumorah and seeing records upon records piled upon
tables, they walked from cell to cell and saw the records that were piled up”
(Brigham Young, Manuscript History, 5 May 1867, LDS Church Archives).
In 1893 Edward Stevenson recalled that in his December 1877 interview
with David Whitmer that the aged witness said that “Oliver Cowdery told
him that the prophet Joseph and himself had seen this room and that it was
filled with treasure, and on a table therein were the breastplate and the sword
of Laban, as well as the portion of gold plates not yet translated, and that
these plates were bound by three small gold rings. ...” (Stevenson 1893, 14).
Although there may be some basis to the story that folk-memory has dis¬
torted and expanded, the historical setting — of Smith and Cowdery’s return¬
ing the plates to the hill — is questionable in light of the translation’s comple¬
tion in June-July 1829 and Cowdery’s statement that he had not visited the
hill until 1830, long after Smith’s need for the plates had elapsed {Messenger
and Advocate 2 [October 1835]: 196). See also IILK.37, ELIZABETH KANE
INTERVIEW WITH BRIGHAM YOUNG, ARTEMISIA (BEAMAN)
SNOW, AND ORRIN ROCKWELL, 1872-1873.

380

BRIGHAM YOUNG ACCOUNT, 1877

and laid upon the table across the gold plates; it was unsheathed, and on it
was written these words: “This sword will never be sheathed again until the
kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ.” I
tell you this as coming not only from Oliver Cowdery, but others who were
familiar with it, and who understood it just as well as we understand coming
to this meeting, enjoying the day, and by and by we separate and go away
forgetting most of what is said, but remembering some things. So is it with
other circumstances in life. I relate this to you, and I want you to understand
it. I take this liberty of referring to those things so that they will not be
forgotten and lost. Carlos Smith^ was a young man of as much veracity as
any young man we had, and he was a witness to these things. Samuel Smith^
saw some things, Hyrum^ saw a good many things, but Joseph was the leader.
... [p. 38]

[2. William Blood Versionf

June 17 & 18 [1877] Jane^^ and I attended Stake Conference at
Farmington where Brigham Young spoke on a num=ber of subjects that
interested me. 1st In speaking of the plates from which the Book of Mormon
was trans=lated he said: Oliver Cowdery to [Id] me [Young] that when the
Prophet Joseph & he returned the plates to the hill Comorah, the hill opened
& they entered a large room that was brilliantly lighted but he did not notice
the source of the light. The room had shelves around it and up=on & under
these were plates more than fifty horses could draw. There was also a table

6. On Don Carlos Smith (1816-41), see I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 15.

7. On Samuel Harrison Smith (1808-44), see I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 13.

8. On Hyrum Smith (1800-44), see I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 12.

9. WiUiam Blood’s autobiography appears mostly in his own hand,
with a small portion at the end in his daughter’s hand. William Blood (1839-
?), son of WiUiam and Mary Blood, was bom at Barton, StaflFordshire, Eng¬
land. He joined the Mormons and immigrated to Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1844.
He moved to Council BluflFs, Iowa, in 1846, then to Utah in 1849. The fol¬
lowing year he settled on a farm in KaysviUe, where he spent the remainder
of his life. In 1857 he was ordained a seventy. He also served as justice of the
peace in 1874. He married Jane Wilkie Hooper in November 1872, then
took Sarah Jane Colemere as his plural wife (see Jenson 1971, 1:465-66; I.

Hill 1962).

10. Jane Wilkie Hooper, Blood’s first wife.

381

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

and Oliver told me: “We laid the plates on the table.” The sv^ord of Laban
hung on the wall. When we returned to the room, [p. 64] this sword was
taken from the wall & unsheathed and laid on the table. It was there written:
“This sword shall neve[r] be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world
become the kingdoms of our God & his Christ.”

2nd Soon after we came to Utah, Porter Rockwell came to me [Young]
one day and said he had found a gold mine and he gave me a nugget — which
I have in my office now. He asked me what he should do about his mine. I
told him to leave it alone. Later, when prospectors came to Utah[,] Porter
came to me in a hurry and said they were now within one hundred yards of
his claim and asked again what he should do. I told him to get a surveyor
and stake out his claim. Now comes the funny part. When he went to look
for it he could not find the place or the gold. I told him that the Lord had
moved it. The Lord has a means of moving things under the ground as we
have of moving things on the ground. To substantiate this he [Young] related
the following: Some of the brethren in Kirtland^^ were hauling gravel from
a gravel bank. While they were working[,] the gravel fell from the hill
uncovering the corner of a stone box. One of the men climbed up the hill
to it and struck it with his pick breaking off a piece from the corner. The
box went through the gravel bank with a rush and they saw it no more. The
piece that was chipped from the corner of the box was picked up & given
to Mother Smith.

11. If Blood’s version accurately places the stone-box event in Kirt-
land, Ohio, then the story’s relevance to Mormon origins in New York is
greatly diminished.

382

31.

HENRY O’MILLY REMINISCENCE, 1879

1. “Blasphemy — ‘Book of Mormon,’ alias ‘The Golden Bible,”’
Rochester Republican, 6 April 1830, 3.

2. Henry O’Reilly, “Origin of Mormonism[:] First Commentaries
on the ‘Golden Bible,’ so called — otherwise, the ‘Book of
Mormon’ — The foundation of the new Sect now wide spread
throughout the World,” 1879, Rochester Historical Society Library,
Rochester, New York.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Henry O’Reilly (1806-86), leader of the Irish Catholics in Rochester,
New York, was editor of Rochester’s Republican and Daily Advertiser, and
author of the highly regarded Sketches of Rochester (1838). He was also
associated with the development of the magnetic telegraph (O’Reilly 1838,
325; W. F. Peck 1884, 133, 349; P. E. Johnson 1978, 20; U.S. Census,
Rochester, Monroe County, New York, 1830:230).

The first item presented below is O’Reilly’s editorial on the publication
of the Book of Mormon, dated 6 April 1830. The second item, apparently
written by O’Reilly in 1879 and amended in 1883, was intended as an
introduction to a reprint of his Rochester Republican editorial.

[1. Article, 6 April 1830^

The “Book of Mormon” has been placed in our hands. A viler impo¬
sition was never practised. It is an evidence of fraud, blasphemy and credulity,
shocking to the Christian and moralist. The “author and proprietor” is one
“Joseph Smith, jr.” — a fellow who, by some hocus pocus, acquired such an
influence over a wealthy farmer of Wayne county, that the latter mortgaged

1 . This item was also published in the Rochester Daily Advertiser and
Telegraph 4 (2 April 1830): 2. Both the Advertiser and Telegraph and the Republi¬
can were printed and published by Luther Tucker, which explains the identi¬
cal typesetting used in both printings of O’Reilly’s article. I have used the Re¬
publican printing because O’Reilly’s reference to it in his subsequent writing
indicates that he considered it the primary printing (see below).

383

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

his farm for $3000, which he paid for printing and binding 5000 copies of the
blasphemous work. The volume consists of about 600 pages, and is divided
into the books of Nephi, of Jacob, ofMosiah, of Alma, of Mormon, of Ether,
and of Helaman. — “Copy-right secured!” The style of the work may be con¬
jectured from the “preface” and “testimonials” which we subjoin. ...^

[2. Reminiscence, 1879]

In the “Rochester Republican” of the 30th April, 1830,^ in the N.Y.
Historical Library, is an article in which I (then the Editor of that print as
well as of the “Roch=ester Daily Advertiser”) alluded to, and published
extracts from, the Book Just then printed but not yet published, by the
“Prophet,” Joe Smith.

Mr. [Abner] Cole,"^ an old Citizen of Palmyra, told me. that, when that
“Prophet’s” attention was called to my comments as they were republished
in some neighboring Journal, he swore, with more than commical vigor,
that he would “go to Rochester Sc thrash that damned O’Rielly, for writing
in that way about his book.[”]^

A copy of the [w]ork had been bro’t [brought] to Rochester by
a Journeyman printer named Macaully,^ then employed in our office.
And he, supposed it would interest me, loaned it to me. Hense I learnt
first about the contents, & mentioned it in my paper, giving some ex¬
tracts as indicia [indicative?] of the contents. — The article, as published
by me in April 1830, is contained in one of the newspaper volumes of
my Contri=butions at the Rochester Historical Library: and is as fol¬
lows: — (viz. in the “Rochester Republican”) +

(Henry O’Rielly— 1879.) 1883.

^ A threat which, happily for the writer, (probably,) the “Prophet” never
realized.

2. Then follows the Book of Mormon’s Preface, Testimony of Three
Witnesses, and Testimony of Eight Witnesses (see IILL.16, BOOK OF
MOPJVION PILEFACE, 1829; VI.G.l, TESTIMONY OF THREE WIT¬
NESSES, JUN 1829; and IILL.13, TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WIT¬
NESSES, JUN 1829).

3. Rather 6 April 1830; there was no issue for 30 April 1830.

4. On Abner Cole (P-1835), see introduction to IILE.3, PALMYRA
REFLECTOR, 1829-1831.

5. John H. Gilbert mentioned that Egbert B. Grandin and Thomas
McAuley did the actual work of printing the Book of Mormon (III. H. 10,
JOHN H. GILBERT MEMOILANDUM, 8 SEP 1892, 4).

384

HENRY O’REILLY REMINISCENCE, 1879

+ Note — I learnt, after I wrote the above critique, that the Mormon church
was organized on the 6th of April 1830

385

32.

EDWARD STEVENSON REMINISCENCE, 1893

Edward Stevenson, Reminiscences of Joseph, the Prophet and the Coming Forth of
the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: Edward Stevenson, 1893), 10-13.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Edward Stevenson^ visited the Palmyra/Manchester, New York, area
in 1870 and 1871. In the following selection from his 1893 Reminiscences, he
describes his visit to the Hill Cumorah.

... Early on a summer’s morning in the year 1870, after a gentle shower
during the night, with just sufficient rainfall to lay the dust, I set out to walk
to the hill. Never can I forget the lovely scenery of that lonely but interesting
walk down that most excellent Canandaigua turnpike. Among the objects
passed on the way was the former home of Joseph Smith, and the very old
and comely schoolhouse where he learned some of his early lessons.

Arriving near the object of my morning’s walk, I set about inquiring
for the HiU Cumorah. But not one could I find in aU the country round who
could give me the desired information; until one, and the right one too, who
was made to comprehend my mind and wish, said, ‘‘Is it Mormon Hill that
you want, or what is more familiarly known among us in this country as
‘Bible HiU,’ where old Joe Smith found the Mormon Bible? Is it this place
you wish to find?”

Having answered affirmatively the question, I was not only enabled,
by my friend’s direction, to learn the third and last name given to this hill,
but to find myself standing upon the summit of one of the most interesting
objects of my 100,000 miles’ travel. ... [p. 10] ...

At the period of the discovery of the gold plates, there stood upon the
side of the hill, about fifteen feet above where the stone box had so long
reposed, a lone, solitary, sugar maple tree, and there continued to grow until
twenty-two years ago; just as described by Brother Holt,^ who was so highly

1. On Edward Stevenson (1820-97), see introduction to LA.9,
JOSEPH SMITH ILECITAL TO PONTIAC (MI) SAINTS, OCT 1834.

2. Edward Holt of the South Jordan Ward had a vision of the Hill Cu¬
morah, which as described by Stevenson (p. 11) included a single tree near its
northern summit.

386

EDWARD STEVENSON REMINISCENCE, 1893

favored of God as to see the whole scene in a vision or dream.

What made Brother Holt’s vision all the more deeply interesting
to me was that in 1871 I had enjoyed the great privilege and pleasure
of visiting the hill in person, and of seeing the very identical spot of
ground where Mormon concealed the stone box and its precious re¬
cords and where Moroni, his son, finished the writing and sealed up
these records. But there was no tree standing there as was described in
the vision, for it had been cut down shortly before and was lying on
the ground, not having as yet been removed. ... [p. 11]

... My guide who accompanied me on my visit in 1871, pointed out
to me many places of interest, and also entertained me hospitably at his table.
... Cordially bidding good-day to my very hospitable host, I proceeded on
my [p- 12] way and found an old gentleman who lived west of the hill and
who was quite agreeable and conversational on the subject of my visit to
Cumorah. He was well acquainted with some of the history of the coming
forth of the book which was to “speak out of the ground,” although
spiritually, he did not seem to have greatly benefited by this “marvelous work
and a wonder.” Still, from him I gleaned some useful information. He
pointed out the spot of ground where the stone box was placed, near the
summit, and on the west side of the point of the hill. He likewise stated that
soon after the rumor so widely spread regarding “Joe” Smith finding a gold
bible, that there was great excitement throughout the whole country, and
that it was about this time the Rochester Company located and searched for
hidden treasure.

Questioning him closely he stated that he had seen some good sized
flat stones that had rolled down and lay near the bottom of the hill. This had
occurred after the contents of the box had been removed and these stones
were doubtless the ones that formerly composed the box. I felt a strong desire
to see these ancient relics and told him I would be much pleased to have him
inform me where they were to be found. He stated that they had long since
been taken away.^ He further said that he knew “Joe” Smith as a “money

3. Earlier the same year, Andrew Galloway had visited the Hill Cu¬
morah and later reported: “I spent one day on the Hill, and saw the Box that
had contained the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated.
The Box as far as I remember was something like three feet long a little over
two feet wide and two feet in depth. The Box and lid showed no marks of
any tools having been used. The Box was made of lightish gray rock, of what
I think geologists would say of the Carboniferous Period” (Andrew Galloway
Collection, EDS Church Archives, cited in Holzapfel 1995, 45). The impres¬
sion that Galloway saw the stone box intact at the top of the hill is contra-

387

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

digger” and a “visionary man” and Martin Harris'^ as an honest reliable
farmer. Joseph in his history says that he worked in a mine for Mr. [fosiah]
Stowel,^ hunting for hidden treasures, at fourteen dollars per month, hence
his name as a money-digger. I then inquired if he ever knew Joseph Smith
to be convicted of crime. He replied that he had not known him as having
been convicted. ... My loquacious guide showed me another and much
deeper cavity made on the east side of the hill by the above named Rochester
treasure seekers, a company of prospectors.^ They said that science aided by
mineral rods did not lie and that most assuredly there were rich treasures
concealed in the hill, and they were determined to have them. But with all
their science and laborious excavations they failed to get a glimpse of the
coveted treasures and returned to their homes if not richer, at least it is to be
hoped wiser men, for the only results of their efforts were the holes they left
on the hillside. Notwithstanding this, there are strong and feasible reasons
for believing that there is abundance of treasure hid up in Cumorah, but it
is guarded by the hand of the Lord and none shall ever pos[s]ess it until made
known in the due time of the Lord. ...^ [p. 13]

dieted by Stevenson and others. GaUoway likely saw the rocks at the bottom
of the hill and mentally reconstructed the box (see Vogel 1995).

4. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

5. On Josiah Stowell (1770-184?), see introduction to IV.B.2,
MARTHA CAMPBELL TO JOSEPH SMITH, 19 DEC 1843.

6. The Rochester money-digging company was well-known (see
III.K.l, ROCHESTER GEM, 15 MAY 1830), but it is unlikely that they
were responsible for the excavation on the eastern slope of the Hill Cu¬
morah. The hole was probably the work of Joseph Smith and his former
money-digging associates. Lorenzo Saunders said the hole was dug one or
two years previous to Joseph Smith’s removal of the plates in September 1827
(IILJ.20, LORENZO SAUNDERS TO THOMAS GREGG, 28 JAN 1885).

7. Stevenson then quotes Brigham Young’s 1877 sermon giving an ac¬
count of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery entering into a cave in the HiU
Cumorah (see IILK.30, BRIGHAM YOUNG ACCOUNT, 1877). Steven¬
son adds: “It was likewise stated to me by David Whitmer in the year 1877
that Oliver Cowdery told him that the Prophet Joseph and himself had seen
this room and that it was filled with treasure, and on a table therein were the
breastplate and the sword of Laban, as well as the portion of gold plates not
yet translated, and that these plates were bound by three small gold rings, and
would also be translated, as was the first portion in the days of Joseph” (p. 14).

388

Perry Benjamin Pierce Statement, 1899

Perry Benjamin Pierce, “The Origin of the ‘Book of Mormon,”’
American Anthropologist 1 (October 1899): 680.

... In 1861 I visited the site of the hiU out of which the alleged “plates”
were allegedly taken. Over thirty years had then passed since the new religion
had been launched and the Book of Mormon given to the world. But the
country neighborhood stil had, at that time, many living people who, while
they cared very Httle for “Mormonism,” had a very definite remembrance
of the Smith family, — father, mother, and sons. I talked with men who were
contemporaries of the boys, — “went to school” with them, as they phrased
it, always qualifying the statement by the additional one, as one old farmer
put it: “None of them Smith boys ever went to school when they could get
out of it.”^ Indeed, I found no person willing to say a complimentary word
of any member of the Smith family. ...

1. William Smith confirmed this allegation, at least as it pertained to
himself (see I.D.4, WILLIAM SMITH, ON MORMONISM, 1883, 6).

34.

SARA MELISSA INGERSOLL REMINISCENCE, 1899

Sara Melissa IngersoU, “Mormonism Unveiled,” copy in letter to Hellen
Miller Gould, 27 November 1899, Manuscripts and Archives, New York
Public Library, New York, New York.

EDITORIAL NOTE

In a cover letter to her friend Hellen Miller Gould, dated 27 November
1899, Sara Melissa (Barber) IngersoU (b. 1850) of Sioux City, Iowa, wrote:
“Pardon my tardiness in answering your letter for I had many interruptions
in copying the M.S. [manuscript] I send you to day a copy of the paper of
which I wrote about to you on Mormonism hoping it may be of use and
also come up to your expectations [.] I do not see as it will be of any particular
use to you now, only to show how mormonism first started ...”

In her paper, titled “Mormonism Unveiled,” Sara included Peter
IngersoU’s testimony about Joseph Smith as related to her by her husband
Byron IngersoU (1824-1904), Peter’s nephew.^ She claimed the information
resulted from her husband’s many conversations with his uncle when the
two lived near one another in Flint, Michigan, prior to Peter’s death in 1867.
There are many inaccuracies in Sara’s account, but there are similarities to
Peter IngersoU’s statement published in Eber D. Howe’s 1834 book Mormon¬
ism Unvailed (see III.A.9, PETER INGERSOLL STATEMENT, 2 DEC
1833).

The real author of the “Book of Mormon” was one Solomon Spalding.
Having failed as a clergyman and having a smattering of biblical knowledge
he was very fond of writing and wrote a manuscript as an addition to the
Bible sometime between the years 1761-1816.^ The work was so flat and
stupid that no publisher could be induced to print it or bring it before the
world. Spalding at length went to his grave and the manuscript remained in

1. Byron, son of Samuel (b. 1785) and Mary (Nelson) IngersoU, was
born 20 December 1824 in Genesee County, New York. FoUowing the
deaths of his first two wives in 1857 and 1861, IngersoU married Sara Melissa
Barber, age twenty-five, in 1870. Byron died at Sioux City, Iowa (Avery
1926, 58, 84).

2. On the Spaulding theory, see Bush 1977.

390

SARA MELISSA INGERSOLL REMINISCENCE, 1899

the possession of his widow[.]

This manuscript fell into the hands of one “Joseph Smith” the real
founder of “Mormonism” who pretended to be a prophet and claimed they
were a direct revelation to himself from heaven[.]

Joseph Smith of Palmyra, Ontario Co.[,] N.Y. was a tall well built
young man with a keen eye and a manner that was at once pleasing and
winning. He was one of those illiterate, lazy, shiftless fellows [p. 1] of whom
one may not approve, but is strongly inclined to like, seemingly of a rather
pious and imaginative turn of mind[.] He seems to have possessed the
magnetic power of controlling the minds of others to a great extent[.]

In a book written by one Sidney Rigdon [Pomeroy Tucker] of or near
Palmyra, N.Y. Rigdon claimed one Peter IngersoU <of the same place>
(Uncle of Byron IngersoU of Sioux City, Iowa,) as one of the first believers
in Mormonism[.]

Peter IngersoU and Joseph Smith were intimate friends and Joseph
proposed to him that he “Joseph” should preach and have revelations.
IngersoU being very fond of fun and excitement encouraged Smith in his
undertaking[.] IngersoU being married Smith staid there a good deal of the
time, and sometimes worked for him — although it was never revealed to
Smith that he should work — [p. 2]

In the year 1822 or 23 Smith began preaching[.] He would hold
meetings in the district school-house and draw large crowds to hear him. He
would preach for a while and then go into a trance and seem to be perfectly
unconscious during this trance, and he would repeat some Jargon in an
unknown tongue, then he would interpret the unknown sounds and assure
those present they were the pure “Adamic language [,] the language in which
Adam courted Eve in the garden of Eden[.]”

Strange as it may seem he began to have believers as at first it was done
in a spirit of mischief and fun[.]

After holding these meetings he was called would come to

uncle Peter’s house — if uncle Peter was not with him — and teU him of the
success he had had, how many converts he made, and laugh tiU he would
drop on the floor with mirth [.] [p. 3]

3. She evidently refers to Pomeroy Tucker’s Origin, Rise, and Progress
of Mormonism published in 1867, which on page 38 states that Peter IngersoU
was among Joseph Smith’s “pioneer Mormon disciples.” See pages 14-15 of
Sara Ingersoll’s manuscript for her further comments about this matter. On
Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to I.A.13, SIDNEY RIGDON
ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

391

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

After meeting with so much encouragement Joe thought he might
make a success of it and commenced in real earnest. He would perform
miracles such as walking on water, which he did by placing a board under
the water out of sight. But it was not a grand success as sometimes he got a
wetting. Then he would tell his followers it was because his faith was not
strong enough."^

One time he told his followers it was revealed to him that he would
find the “Golden Plates [.]” His followers were to dig in a certain spot on
uncle Peter’s farm — these diggings were always done in the night — but if
during the process of digging any one spoke a word the treasure would
vanish. He did a great deal of digging but some how the treasure always
vanished; somebody would speak, or their faith was not strong enough, and
they must have more “Faith” if they expected any reward[.] [p. 4]

Another time he conceived the idea of making it pay. One of his
followers had a nice black, fat, pet sheep. He told them it was revealed to
him that they should dig a trench around a certain spot on uncle Peters
farm — cut the artery in the sheep’s neck, walk him around the trench and
form a circle of blood — to keep the evil spirit outside of the circle. — then
commence digging; but if any one spoke a word the treasure would surely
vanish. They dug quietly for a while, then one of the diggers struck his spade
on a stone and instantly exclaim=ed “I have found it!” “No use digging any
more!” said Joe, “you have spoken and it has vanished.” So it had, and so
had the dead sheep. Joe’s brothers had taken it home and dressed it, and no
doubt Joe feasted for awhile, as his parents were always “landless and
shiftless [.]”^

After these diggings Joe’s followers did not always fill [p. 5] up the holes
again — and there were many of them — and aunt Kate (uncle Peters wife)
complained about it and said they must fill up the holes or stop digging on
their farm.

Then Joe’s fertile brain conceived the idea of making a “Bible”[.] One
day as he was in a field hoeing, he went into the timber lot to rest — as he
had many tried [tired?] spells — There had been a wind storm recently and it

4. Regarding Smith’s walking on water, which is usually assigned to
Colesville, New York, see IV.D.5, GEORGE COLLINGTON, SMITH
BAKER, HARRIET MARSH, AND REBECCA NURSE INTERVIEWS
WITH FREDERICK G. MATHER, JUL 1880.

5. If not an entirely different event, the sacrifice of William Stafford’s
sheep according to tradition was performed on a hill located on Chase prop¬
erty (see IILJ.35, THOMAS L. COOK HISTORY, 1930, 238; and IILA.13,
WILLIAM STAFFORD STATEMENT, 8 DEC 1833, 239).

392

SARA MELISSA INGERSOLL REMINISCENCE, 1899

had uprooted a large tree and revealed a bed of pure white sand. As Joe sat
resting and playing with the sand, Satan who is never idle, whispered to
him — why not make a bible of this? Joe having on an apron made of ticking,
something Hke a carpenter’s apron, filled it with sand, patted it in shape, and
it seemed heavy like gold. At once the idea struck him, why not make a
“Golden Bible” of this.

He went to uncle Peter showed him the beautiful sand, told him he
thought they could <make> a box in [p. 6] the form of a book, and wanted
his assistance. Uncle Peter nothing loath, told him if he would get some thin
boards and tools, and come down in a back lot — out of sight of passers
by — where he was at work harrowing, he would help him.

Joe got the tools and material and went to where uncle Peter was at
work, and uncle Peter hitched his team and they went into the timber lot
and made a box, letting the edge come over like the cover of a book, filled
it with sand covered it with cloth, fastened it tight, took it home, and put it
in a chest. ^

Then Joe told his followers he had found the “Golden Plates[.]” They
wanted to see them. He told them it was revealed to him that no person
could look on them with the natural eye and live, until they had been
translated, but they might put their hand on them and feel of them.

He would raise the lid of the chest just enough for them to put [p. 7]
their hand in and the chest being wide and the box being at arms length it
seemed heavy as gold, and they were satisfied[.]

All this time Joe held meetings at every opportunity and as his followers
increased his troubles increased also.

6. In 1833 Peter Ingersoll testified that Smith had privately confessed
to him that he had deceived his family with some sand wrapped in his frock
(III.A.9, PETER INGERSOLL STATEMENT, 2 DEC 1833, 235-36); how¬
ever, by failing to mention the construction of a box one was left to wonder
how a mere bundle of sand could be taken for plates. Sara Ingersoll’s account
is not only a more plausible version but suggests that Peter IngersoU withheld
information that would have implicated him in Smith’s fraud. As previously
suggested (IILA.9, PETER INGERSOLL STATEMENT, 2 DEC 1833, n.
14), Smith may have led Ingersoll and others to believe he had deceived his
family with a box of sand in an effort to discourage his former treasure-seek¬
ing fnends from attempting to take the plates from him. Perhaps Smith in¬
volved Ingersoll in the construction of a box as a means of making his subter¬
fuge more convincing. See also IILJ.21, E. E. BALDWIN TO W. O. NOR-
ILELL, 3 AUG 1887, n. 5.

393

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

How to get the “bible” printed he knew not but trusted to time and
luck[.]

His followers consisted mostly of the poor and illiterate class of people,
but among them was a man by the name of Martin Harris^ who was a firm
believer in Mormonism. His wife, though inclined that way, was not so firm
in the faith. This man Harris tho[ugh]’ an illiterate man was quite wealthy,
owning a nice farm and other property[.]

By this time Joe was getting quite uneasy about getting his “Bible”
printed — ^but as the devil always helps his own he helped him out this time[.]
[p. 8] As Joe was walking out one morning he saw this man Harris coming
toward him. Now thought Joe is my time, here is the man. He saluted him
in a slow drawling tone of voice and said: “Good morning brother Harris.”
“Good morning” said Harris. “I had a great revelation last night[”] said Joe.
It was revealed to me that the first man that I met this morning was to furnish
the means to print the “Golden Bible” and you are the first man.”^

Harris began to hem and haw, but could not see quite clearly how he
could do it[.] but Joe reiterated “you must! you are the man and must do
it!” Harris said he would see his wife and see what she said about it. Now
Harris’ wfie wife having worked and helped accumulate the property and
not being so firm in the mormon faith as her husband flew the track at once,
and would not consent to the revelation.

Now to show the power of one [p. 9] mind over another, and the firm
belief Harris had in Joseph Smith and his religion Harris and his wife agreed
to divide the property, separate and each go their way which they did.

Then Joseph Smith took the Spalding manuscript — which he had kept
unknown to all but uncle Peter — and had it printed somewhere in N.Y.
City, made into a book and called it the “Mormon Bible” claimed he had it
translated from the plates of the Golden Bible which he claimed were written
in hieroglyphics and had to be translated by revelation by himself.

He had a pair of great big eye glasses made from the glass they used to
use in the back of carriages, he put two of them together in the form of
spectacles and called them “God’s spectacles.” When he wished to translate
he would put them on and look and act as wise and sedate as a Judge claiming
to translate by the “Urim and Thummim[.]” [p. 10] After the separation of

7. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

8. Compare LA.5, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 9; LB.5,
LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:73; and IILA.14, WILLARD
CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11 DEC 1833, 246.

394

SARA MELISSA INGERSOLL REMINISCENCE, 1899

Le Harris and his wife, that and some other trouble caused quite a commotion
in the community and people began to take sides and look seriously on the
matter. Uncle Peter IngersoU never dreaming that it would terminate so
seriously went before the court and testified to all that he knew about
mormonism.^ but such being the power of Joseph Smith, and the ignorance
of his followers, and there [their] firm belief in mormonism — that his
testimony could not stay the result[.] I think it was in the year 1827 when
Smith claimed to have found the Golden plates and the translation was not
finished until 1829 when it was pubfished.

By this time it had become pretty warm for Smith and his converts.
They broke up his meetings in Palmyra, so he gathered all his followers that
would go, including his father, mother, brothers and some of his other near
relatives and they removed to Kirtland, Ohio. There he was Joined by
Brigham Young^^ in the year 1832 and Brigham was so “Hfted up” on
beholding the “Prophet Joseph” — for so he was now called by his follow¬
ers — [p. 11] that he “spake in tongues” that no one could understand but
Joe Smith. Smith interpreted the sounds and assured them it was the pure
Adamic language [.]

After Smith left Palmyra uncle Peter did not know so much of his
proceedings only such reports as would come to him. But up to the time he
left Palmyra what I have written were such things as uncle Peter knew to be
true[.] He told many things of Smith after he left Palmyra but of course they
were the current reports that he had heard. ... [p. 12]

During the years 1865 to 1867 or 8 Uncle Peter IngersoU lived and
died in the city of Flint, Mich[igan].,^^ and Byron IngersoU then being a
resident of the same place, had many conversations with him on the subject

9. IngersoU may have been among the witnesses who testified against
Smith at Lyons in March 1829. According to Lucy Smith, a witness testified
falsely that “Joseph Smith told him that the box which he had, contained
nothing but sand; and he, Joseph Smith, said it was gold, to deceive the peo¬
ple” (LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, 1853:133-34).

10. On Brigham Young (1801-77), see introduction to IILK.19,
BRIGHAM YOUNG ACCOUNTS, 1855 & 1857.

11. Sara IngersoU’s account of the Mormon occupation of Kirtland,
Ohio, their persecutions in Missouri, the establishment of Nauvoo, and
Joseph Smith’s death, which appears on pages 12-14, has been deleted.

12. Peter IngersoU is Usted in the 1860 census of Flint, Genesee
County, Michigan, in the household of Ira Wright, who had married Inger¬
soU’s daughter Marietta in 1842 (1860:988; History of Genesee County, Michi¬
gan, 1879, 184). IngersoU died at Flint, Michigan, on 22 AprU 1867 (Avery
1926, 58).

395

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

of Mormonism[.] He Byron IngersoU read the book Sidney Rigdon
[Pomeroy Tucker] had written on Mormonism to uncle Peter, and uncle
[p. 14] Peter would deny or affirm what of it was true, but on the whole said
it was pretty correct, with the exception of some of the original points, and
one point in particular that Rigdon [Tucker] knew was false, was, that he
Peter IngersoU was or ever was a believer in Mormonism; He and Rigdon
[Tucker] being weU acquainted and that Rigdon knew better/"^ ... [p. 15]

In writing this brief sketch of the origin of mormonism I have simply
related the facts as they were given me, and on which I have not enlarged,
though they may sound rather ridicul=ous. ...^^ [p. 17] ...

[s] Sara Melissa IngersoU

Mrs. Byron IngersoU
619 Virginia St.

Sioux City, Iowa.

Nov 27th 1899. [p. 18]

13. This perhaps confirms Richard L. Anderson’s suspicion that some
of Hurlbut’s witnesses were iUiterate and that their affidavits were written by
someone else, perhaps by Hurlbut himself (R. L. Anderson 1970). However,
the implication that Hurlbut therefore misrepresented his witnesses or that
the witnesses did not have control over the content of their affidavits is un¬
founded.

14. Peter IngersoU’s supposed denial is questionable since IngersoU
died in April 1867 and Tucker’s book was not published until after June of
that year.

15. Discussion of the three and eight witnesses to the Book of Mor¬
mon, which appears on pages 15-17, has been deleted.

16. Discussion of the Book of Mormon’s contents on page 17 has
been deleted.

396

35.

WAYNE COUNTY (NY) JOURNAL,

23 APRIL 1908

“Rochester Furnished Paper. Book of Mormon Printed on Stock From
Founder of Wellknown Paper Firm,” Wayne County (NY) Journal, 23 April

1908.

EDITORIAL NOTE

The claim in the title of the present source — that the Book of Mormon
was printed on paper provided by the Ailing & Cory Paper Firm of
Rochester, New York — is false. The Book of Mormon was printed on paper
evidently obtained from Case & Brown of Shortsville, New York (see
introduction to III.K.28, W. H. MCINTOSH, HISTORY OF ONTARIO
COUNTY [NY], 1876). However, the title perhaps misrepresents its source
since the article itself claims that Joseph Smith obtained from their store,
located on Rochester’s Exchange Street, some writing paper and theological
books prior to the Book of Mormon’s publication. This claim presumably
originated with William Ailing (d. 1890), who was a clerk in the store until
Elihu F. Marshall sold the business to him in 1834. David Cory (d. 1897)
became AUing’s business partner in 1859. Eventually the business passed into
the hands of their sons, Joseph T. Ailing and David W. Cory, the former of
whom probably transmitted his father’s statement into published form in
1908.^

Ailing & Cory, Rochester’s wellknown paper firm, gave a reception to
Western New York publishers and printers at their new warehouse on Jones
and Dean streets Saturday last and the occasion was made most pleasant.
Luncheon was served by TeaU and during the forenoon the publishers’
association held a business meeting.

An historical item of interest to Palmyra is contained in a little booklet
issued by Ailing & Cory and the paragraph in question reads as follows:

It may be of interest in this connection to know that one of the early
customers of Mr. AUing was a man who became famous as the founder of

1. For a brief history of the Ailing & Cory Paper Firm, see One Hun¬
dred Years in the Paper Business, 1819-1919, 1919.

397

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

Mormonism, Joseph Smith. He used to come in on Mondays from his home
in Palmyra and spend hours reading and selecting books and talking theology.
It was at this time that he was engaged in writing his “Book of Mormon,”
but the present firm disclaims all responsibility for Mr. Smith’s religious
conclusions, even if he did buy his books and writing paper from their store.

398

36.

LOCKWOOD R. DOTY HISTORY, 1925

Lockwood R. Doty, History of the Genesee Country, 4 vols. (Chicago: S. J.
Clarke Publishing Co., 1925), 1:561-63.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Lockwood R. Doty (1858-?), county judge and surrogate of Livingston
County, New York, was recognized as “one of the foremost authorities upon
Livingston county and the Genesee country” (Doty 1925, 4:865-66). Doty
mostly relies on previously published material for his account, and he is
inaccurate in some of his statements.

... The town of Manchester was the birthplace of Mormonism, or
Church of the Latter Day Saints. Many volumes relating to the merits
or demerits of this peculiar sect have been written, but it is fitting that
a brief account of its beginning should be included in this sketch of
the town where it originated. Joseph Smith, the first prophet and foun¬
der of the church, was born in Windsor County, Vermont, December
13 [23], 1805. While still in early boyhood his parents came to
Palmyra, New York, where his father opened a small tavern.^ The fa¬
ther was a man of little worth, but the mother was of stronger char¬
acter, and both parents were ignorantly imbued with religious fanati¬
cism. Mrs. Smith firmly believed that her son was destined to be a
prophet, even during his early boyhood.^ In 1819 the family moved to
a small farm on the road known as Stafford Street, in the northern part
of Manchester. Soon after locating here the Smiths, father and son,
were employed by Clark Chase^ to dig a well. While engaged in this
work, a white, glossy pebble, resembling a human foot in shape, was
found. The future prophet kept the pebble and soon pretended to have
discovered that it possessed supernatural powers. In the pebble he
claimed to discern happenings in distant places and to read the course
of future events. This pebble became known as the “peek stone,” al-

1. Compare IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 12.

2. Compare IILJ.2, ORSAMUS TURNER ACCOUNT, 1851, 213.

3. On Clark Chase, see III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT,
1867, n. 33.

399

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

though Smith was the only one who could make it do tricks, which
was evidence enough to him that he was the destined prophet."^

Near the Smith home was a hill and, according to rumor, hidden
treasure was buried therein. This rumor was told to the credulous Smiths by
Oliver Cowdery,^ a school teacher residing on Stafford Street.^ Young Joseph
immediately consulted his peek stone in order to locate the treasure. How
many times the father and son spent the midnight hours spading up the
hillside is not known, but no treasure was found. Loath to acknowledge
defeat, the Smiths maintained that they found a chest, three feet long, covered
with a dark stone, in the center of which was a white spot. Upon being
exposed to the air, the white spot began to spread and finally exploded loudly,
and then the chest vanished.^

When Joseph, Jr., was about nineteen years old he attended a Methodist
camp meeting and was converted.^ Having no further use for his remarkable
stone, he now communed directly [p. 561] with the angels. One of these
accommodating spirits directed him to dig in the “Hill of Camorah” for some
gold plates containing “a record of the ancient inhabitants of this country,
engraved by Mormon, the son of Nephi.” Smith “obeyed” and “found” the
plates September 21 [22], 1827. With them was a pair of spectacles, the lenses
of which were opaque to aU except the prophet, and only by wearing these
spectacles could the record be translated. Apparently with great reluctance.
Smith undertook the task, at the same time announcing that anyone else who
gazed upon the plates would be stricken with death. As a business man. Smith
was without a superior in his day. Seated behind a curtain, he donned the
spectacles and read from the plates, while his words were written down by
Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery.

Various stories of the finding and translation of the gold plates have
been told. One of these, apparently authentic, is that Smith did not claim for

4. Compare IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 19.

5. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow¬
dery Collection.”

6. The claim that Oliver Cowdery told the Smiths about treasures in
the Hill Cumorah is incorrect. Cowdery did not come to Palmyra until at
least a year after the plates had been removed from the hiU.

7. Compare IILJ.2, ORSAMUS TURNER ACCOUNT, 1851, 216.

8. This could have been during the Palmyra revival of 1824-25, which
Smith describes but places in 1820. Doty likely follows Tucker’s account of
Smith’s joining the “probationary class of the Methodist church in Palmyra”
(see IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 18), but Tucker did
not assign a date to the event.

400

LOCKWOOD R. DOTY HISTORY, 1925

the plates any religious significance, but that they were simply a historical
record of the ancient inhabitants of America.^ About the time the translation
commenced, Sidney Rigdon,^^ of Ohio, attracted to Smith by the news of
the great discovery, appeared on the scene. Rigdon had been a Baptist
minister, but had fallen into disrepute with that denomination. There seems
to be little doubt that it was Rigdon who gave the Book of Mormon, or
Gold Bible, its religious color. It has been intimated that the greater part of
the “translation” was prepared by Rigdon, then read behind the curtain by
the prophet to his secretaries.^^

Martin Harris^^ mortgaged a good farm in Palmyra to raise the necessary
$2,500 to pay for the printing of the first edition of the Book of Mormon.

It was printed at Palmyra by E. B. Grandin in 1830. Mrs. Harris, with a
woman’s intuition, had no faith in the book which had so captivated her
husband, and she got hold of about a hundred pages of the manuscript, which
she either hid or destroyed. Smith, Cowdery and Harris agreed not to make
another translation, because “the evil spirit might get up a story that the
second translation differed from the first.

The Mormon Church was founded on the Gold Bible. About 1832 all
those who had joined the church gathered at Kirtland, Ohio. ... [p. 562]

9. This claim is also made in III. A.3, JOSEPH CAPRON STATE¬
MENT, 8 NOV 1833.

10. On Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876), see introduction to I.A.13, SID¬
NEY RIGDON ACCOUNT, CIRCA 1836.

11. See III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 28, 48,

75-76.

12. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

13. See III.L.14, MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829.

14. See IILL.16, BOOK OF MORMON PILEFACE, 1829.

401

37.

Elizabeth Kane Interview with

BRIGHAM YOUNG, ARTEMISIA (BEAMAN) SNOW,
AND Orrin Rockwell, 1872-1873

Norman R. Bowen and Mary Karen Bowen Solomon, eds., A Gentile Account
of Life in Utah's Dixie, 1872-73: Elizabeth Kane's St. George Journal (Salt Lake
City: University of Utah Tanner Trust Fund, 1995), 69-77.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Elizabeth Dennistoun (Wood) Kane (1836-1909), wife of Major Gen¬
eral Thomas L. Kane (d. 1883), was born near Liverpool, England. She
married Kane in 1853. In 1857 the Kanes were briefly separated when
Thomas left Philadelphia to mediate difficulties between the Mormons and
the U.S. government in Utah. Over the years a friendship developed
between Kane and Brigham Young, who in 1872 invited the Kanes and their
two little boys, Evan and William, to spend the winter with him in newly
settled St. George, Utah. In 1874 she published Twelve Mormon Homes Visited
in Succession on a Journey through Utah to Arizona (Philadelphia), which
highlighted her experience with polygamous Mormon families. This publi¬
cation, however, did not include an account of her two-month stay in St.
George. With the help of E. Kent Kane (d. 1978), Elizabeth’s grandson and
Kane family historian, Norman R. Bowen edited and published Elizabeth
Kane’s St. George journal in 1995.

In St. George the Kanes stayed with Erastus Snow, then president of
the LDS church’s Southern Mission. On the evening of 15 January 1873,
the Kanes were invited to dine at the home of Artemisia (Beaman) Snow,
the first of Erastus Snow’s three wives (married 1838). Several of the “leading
people” were present, including Brigham Young. After dinner, some of the
party retired to the parlor where Artemisia Snow, Brigham Y oung, and Elijah
F. Sheets began reminiscing about Joseph Smith. Also included is a reminis¬
cence of Orrin Porter Rockwell, whom Kane must have interviewed in Salt
Lake City in late November 1872 prior to her trip to St. George. The
Elizabeth Kane Collection in the Archives of the Harold B. Lee Library,
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, is presently unavailable to re-

402

ELIZABETH KANE INTERVIEW, 1872-1873

searchers — hence my reliance on the published version.

After dinner most of the female guests v^ithdrew, to the kitchen I
suppose, for I could see them flitting in to the dinning room now and then
to put away pieces of the dinner service. Mrs. Artemisia Snow^ and I were
accompanied to the parlour by the gentlemen. The lamp on the mantlepiece
shed but a faint light compared to the vivid changeful glow of the blazing
pine logs on the hearth, and some allusion to the solidity with which the
fireplace was built, led to the remark that it was under the hearth at the
Beman farm [in Livonia, New York] that the “Plates” of the Book of
Mormon were hidden.^ Mrs. Snow [p. 69] was a daughter of Mr. Beman,^
a wealthy farmer of Livingston [,] Livonia County, New York."^ She was only
a girl when the plates were brought there, but remembered perfectly the
anxiety they all felt after the plates were buried, and a fire kindled on the
hearth above them, round which the family sat as usual. 1 asked “Who were
searching for the plates?”

She answered “The people of the neighborhood. They did not know
what Joseph Smith had found, but that it was treasure, and they wanted to
get it away. This was long before there was any dream of religious persecu¬
tion.”

Mrs. Snow sate [sat] knitting a stocking as she talked, like any other
homely elderly woman. She certainly seemed to think she had actually gone
through the scene she narrated. I know so little of the history of the Mormons

1. Artemisia (Beaman) Snow (1819-82), daughter of Alvah Beaman,
was born in Livonia, Livingston County, New York. She married Erastus
Snow in 1838, the first of his three plural wives and mother of eleven chil¬
dren. She died at St. George, Utah (Black 1987, s.v. “Artemisia Snow”).

2. Actually the plates were hidden under the Smiths’ hearth in Man¬
chester, New York, while Alvah Beman was visiting in late September 1827.
The mistake was not Kane’s, but Artemisia’s as indicated by Erastus Snow’s
comment that his father-in-law “was an early associate of the Smith family in
the State of New York, and assisted the Prophet Joseph in hiding the plates
under the hearth in his own home, at times when his enemies were searching
for them” (“Autobiography of Erastus Snow, Dictated to his son Franklin R.
Snow in the year 1875,” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine 14 [July
1923]: 106). Artemisia was eight in 1827; older sister Mary, however, got the
story right (see IILK.12, MARY A. NOBLE AUTOBIOGRAPHY,

CIRCA 1834-1836, 3, and n. 2).

3. On Alvah Beaman (1775-1837), see LB.5, LUCY SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1845, n. 151.

4. Actually Livonia, Livingston County, New York.

403

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

that the stories that now followed by the flickering firelight were full of
interest to me. I shall write down as much as I can remember, though there
must be gaps where allusions were made to things I had never heard of and
did not understand enough to remember accurately. The most curious thing
was the air of perfect sincerity of all the speakers. I cannot feel doubtful that
they believed what they said.

A blue eyed Pennsylvanian with rosy cheeks and snow white hair, a
man who has a thoroughly good benevolent face. Bishop Sheetz,^ of
Montgomery County [Pennsylvania], said, speaking of his [p. 70] first
interview with Joseph Smith — they oftenest speak of him as “Joseph” or
“Brother Joseph” “I thought him the image of everything prepossessing and
noble. I felt to be thankful that I had lived to a wonderful day when God
was again communicating with man.”

Brigham Young^ described his first visit to him [Joseph Smith]. “I had
received the testimony before,” he said, “but I wanted to see him. I felt I
would know him to be the man. I went with by brother Phineas^ and Heber
C. Kimball^ to old man Smith’s [Joseph Smith, Sr.’s]^ and found neither of
the sons at home, but he said the boys were in the woods. Accordingly we
went about a quarter of a mile to where Jos. & Hyrum^^ were, following the
tracks of their woodsled through a light snow that was melting. They had
just felled a tree, and Joseph greeted us pleasantly, and asked us if we could
handle an axe. We then took hold one after another, and got the branches
off and the tree cut up into logs very soon, and work being over for the day
he invited us home to talk. We attended a meeting in the evening too, and

5. Elijah F. Sheets (1821-1904) was born in Charlestown, Chester
County, Pennsylvania. He was baptized by Erastus Snow in 1840 and met
Joseph Smith shortly after his arrival at Nauvoo, Illinois, in September 1841.
Following his ordination as an elder in April 1842, he served a mission to
Pennsylvania (1842-44) and England (1844-46). In 1856 he was set apart as
bishop of Salt Lake City’s Eighth Ward, where he served for more than forty-
five years (Jenson 1971, 1:614-16; Black 1987, s.v. “Sheets, Elijah Funk”).

6. On Brigham Young (1801-77), see introduction to III. K. 19,
BRIGHAM YOUNG ACCOUNTS, 1855 & 1857.

7. On Phineas Howe Young (1799-1879), see introduction to
IILK.23, PHINEAS HOWE YOUNG AUTOBIOGBJVPHY, 1863.

8. On Heber C. Kimball (1801-68), see introduction to IILK.24, HE¬
BER C. KIMBALL AUTOBIOGRAPHY, 1864.

9. On Joseph Smith, Sr., (1771-1840), see “Introduction to Joseph
Smith, Sr., Collection.”

10. On Hyrum Smith (1800-44), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, n. 12.

404

ELIZABETH KANE INTERVIEW, 1872-1873

I was fully satisfied. ...

I forget what came next, but after Mrs. Snow had been mentioned as
being Beaman’s daughter, I asked some question [p. 71] respecting the origi¬
nal discovery of the plates which was answered as nearly as I can remember.

A man named Walters^^ son of a rich man living on the Hudson [River]
South of Albany,^^ received a scientific education, was even sent to Paris.
After he came home he lived like a misanthrope, he had come back an infidel,
believing neither in man nor God. He used to dress in a fine broadcloth
overcoat, but no other coat nor vest, his trousers aU slitted up and patched,
and sunburnt boots — filthy! He was a sort of fortune teller, though he never
stirred off the old place. For instance, a man I [Brigham Young] knew rode
up, and before he spoke, the fortune teller said, “You needn’t get off your
horse, I know what you want. Your mare ain’t stolen.”

Says the man “How do you know what I want?”

11. Reflecting on his November 1832 introduction to Joseph Smith in
Kirtland, Ohio, Young elsewhere said: “We went to his [Joseph Smith’s] fa¬
ther’s house, and learned that he [Joseph] was in the woods, chopping. We
immediately repaired to the woods, where we found the Prophet, and two of
his brothers, chopping and hauling wood. Here my joy was full at the privi¬
lege of shaking the hand of the Prophet of God, and received the sure testi¬
mony, by the Spirit of prophecy, that he was all that any man could believe
him to be, as a true Prophet. He was happy to see us, and bid us welcome.

We soon returned to his house, he accompanying us” {Millennial Star 25
[1863]: 439).

12. Apparently a reference to Luman Walters (c. 1788-1860) of Pult-
neyville, Wayne County, New York (see III.E.3, PALMYRA REFLEC¬
TOR, 1829-1831, n. 21). In 1857 Brigham Young could not remember the
astrologer’s name but may have subsequently remembered it himself or
learned it from other pioneer Mormons such as Orrin Porter Rockwell or
Heber C. Kimball (see III.K.19, BRIGHAM YOUNG ACCOUNTS, 1855
& 1857).

13. Presently there is no evidence to connect Luman Walters with this
area of New York.

14. See IILK.19, BRIGHAM YOUNG ACCOUNTS, 1855 & 1857,

n. 4.

15. Since Brigham Young was last quoted in reference to his first meet¬
ing Joseph Smith, Kane evidently attributed the following statement about
Walters to Young, not Artemisia Snow as D. Michael Quinn has interpreted
(1998, 117, 120, 131). Kane’s wording is very similar to known statements of
Young (compare IILK.19, BRIGHAM YOUNG ACCOUNTS, 1855 &
1857), and she later attributes a portion of the statement to him (see note 16
below).

405

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

Says he, ‘T’ll give you a sign. You’ve got a respectable wife, and so
many children. At this minute your wife has just drawn a bucket of water at
the well to wash her dishes. Look at your watch and find out if it ain’t so
when you get home. As to your mare, she’s not a dozen miles from home.
She strayed into such neighborhood, and as they didn’t know whose she was
they put her up till she should be claimed. My fee’s a dollar. Be off!”

This man was sent for three times to go to the hill Cumorah to dig for
treasure. People knew there was treasure there. Beman was one of those
who sent for him. He came. Each time he said there was treasure there, but
that he couldn’t get it; though there was one that could. The last time he
came he pointed out Joseph Smith, who was sitting quietly among a group
of men in the tavern, and said There was the young man that could find it,
and cursed and swore about him in a scientific manner: awful!”^^ [p. 72]

I asked where Cumorah was. “In Manchester Township [,] Ontario
County[,] New York.” I think this is near Rochester. I have heard Porter
Rockwell, a bronzed seafaring looking man, with long hair tucked behind
his ears, in which he wears little gold rings, tell ofjoseph Smith’s failures and
final success in finding the plates. Rockwell was a schoolmate and friend of
Smith’s, and in spite of his intimate knowledge of the humble Yankee settler’s
life, the log-house, lit up at night by pine chips because they were too poor
to burn candles, the daily trudge to the rude school house and the association
with him when they were “hired men” together, evidently believes in his
Prophet and hero, falsifying the proverb about “No man being a hero to his
valet de chambre [manservant].” His story about the discovery of the plates
sounded like the German legends of the demons of the Herz Mountains
[Harz Mountains, East and West Germany], but his description of the life of
his neighborhood made me understand what Brigham Young meant by
saying the people knew there was treasure in the Hill Cumorah. It seems
that the time was one of great mental disturbance in that region. There was
much religious excitement; chiefly among the Methodists. People felt free
to do very queer things in the new country, which the lapse of a single
generation has made us consider Old New England. . . . [p. 73] . . .

Not only was there religious excitement, but the phantom treasure of

16. This statement is directly attributed to Brigham Young (see below,

P-73).

17. This paragraph is very similar to Young’s previous statements (see
IILK.19, BRIGHAM YOUNG ACCOUNTS, 1855 & 1857).

18. On Orrin Porter Rockwell (1813-78), see LA.15, JOSEPH
SMITH HISTORY, 1839, n. 121.

406

ELIZABETH KANE INTERVIEW, 1872-1873

Captain Kidd^^ were sought for far and near, and even in places like Cumorah
where the primeval forest still grew undisturbed the gold finders sought for
treasure without any traditionary rumor even to guide them. Rockwell said
his mother^^ and Mrs. Smith^^ used to spend their Saturday evenings together
teUing their dreams, and that he was always glad to spend his afternoon
hohday gathering pine knots for the evening blaze on the chance that his
mother would forget to send him to bed, and that he might listen unnoticed
to their talk. The most sober settlers of the district he said were “gropers”
though they were ashamed to own [up to] it; and stole out to dig of [on]
moonlight nights, carefully effacing the traces of their ineffectual work before
creeping home to bed. He often heard his mother and Mrs. Smith comparing
notes, and teUing how Such an one’s dream, and Such another’s pointed to
the same lucky spot: how the spades often truck the iron sides of the treasure
chest, and how it was charmed away, now six inches this side, now four feet
deeper, and again completely out of reach. Joseph Smith was no gold seeker
by trade; he only did openly what all were doing privately; but he was
considered to be “lucky.”

How he found the plates, saw them plainly, and lost sight of them again,
I have read in some Mormon book since I came here. Brigham Young said
that the night Joseph found the plates “there was a wonderful light in the
heavens. I was about [p. 74] 70 miles from there and stood for hours watching
it. There were lances darting and the sound of cannon and armies just at hand,
and flashes of light, though there were no clouds. Joseph’s discovery was in
the papers directly,^^ and everywhere people remarked the coincidence, be¬
cause for hundreds of miles they had been out watching like myself”

I asked where the plates were now, and saw in a moment from the
expression of the countenances around that I had blundered. But I was
answered that they were in a cave; that Ofiver Cowdery^"^ though now an

19. On Robert Kidd (1645-1701), see III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER
ACCOUNT, 1867, n. 30.

20. On Sarah Witt RockweU (1785-?), see I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 90.

21. On Lucy Smith (1775-1856), see “Introduction to Lucy Mack
Smith Collection.”

22. See IILK.24, HEBER C. KIMBALL AUTOBIO GILAPHY, 1864.

23. The earliest known newspaper account of Joseph Smith’s gold
plates was in the Wayne Sentinel, 26 June 1829 (see III.E.l, WAYNE SENTI¬
NEL, 1824-1836).

24. On Oliver Cowdery (1805-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow-
dery Collection.”

407

MISCELLANEOUS NON-RESIDENT SOURCES

apostate would not deny that he had seen them.^^ He had been to the cave,
I did not understand exactly whether Oliver Cowdery was there three times,
or whether he accompanied Joseph the third time he went there, and Brigham
Young’s tone was so solemn that I listened bewildered like a child to the
evening witch stories of its nurse. Nor do I understand whether the plates
were all transcribed by this time or not. The plates are the thin leaves of gold
shaped like thin sections of a cow-bell, to speak profanely, and threaded on
golden rings which the Mormons believe Joseph to have found in the hill
Cumorah. The curious characters inscribed upon them he was enabled to
translate by means of a magic, or hallowed, pair of immense eye-glasses, to
speak profanely [p. 75] again of what the Mormons reverence, called the
Urim & Thummim found in the same small chest in which the plates were.
This translation is the Book of Mormon.

Brigham Young said that when Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith
were in the cave this third time, they could see its contents more distinctly
than before, just as your eyes get used to the light of a dim candle, and objects
in the room become plain to you. It was about fifteen feet high and round
its sides were hanged boxes of treasure. In the centre was a large stone table
empty before, but now piled with similar gold plates, some of which also lay
scattered on the floor beneath. Formerly the sword of Laban hung on the
walls sheathed, but it was now unsheathed and lying across the plates on the
table; and One that was with them said it was never to be sheathed until the
reign of Righteousness upon the earth.”^^

I would have liked to hear more, half expecting the apparition of some
Frederick Barbarossa,^^ but Brigham Young ceased speaking and Bishop
Snow related a long dream which had recently been vouchsafed to him. By
this time my poor little boys^^ were so tired after their long ride that they
were nodding [p. 76] as they stood beside my chair. ...

25. At this time Cowdery had been dead for twenty-three years, prior
to which he had rejoined the church.

26. At the bottom of this journal page, Elizabeth Kane wrote: “I
found a long account of the ‘sword of Laban’ in a copy of the Book of Mor¬
mon on the table this morning in the 1st Chapter of the Book of Nephi.”
Brigham Young subsequently related the story about the cave in the Hill Cu¬
morah in a public sermon (see IILK.30, BRIGHAM YOUNG ACCOUNT,
1877).

27. Frederick I (“Frederick Barbarossa”) (1123P-90), king of Germany
and the Holy Roman Empire, 1152-90.

28. Evan and William.

408

PALMYRA (NY) ROAD LISTS, 1817-1822

“A Copy of the Several Lists of the Mens Names Liable to Work on the
Highways in the Town of Palmyra in the Year 1804 typescript by Doris
Nesbitt, microfilm in LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Although a microfilming crew for the LDS church filmed the Nesbitt
transcription at Palmyra’s King’s Daughters Free Library in 1970, neither the
original nor the typescript can be located at present. Richard Palmer of the
Palmyra Historical Society told one reesearcher that the original book
containing the road lists may have been accidentally destroyed about 1976
when someone took the wrong boxes to the town dump (Walters 1987).

New York law required all land owners (“free holders”) and aU free
males of twenty-one years of age or older to work at least one day during
the year maintaining public roads. This work usually consisted of filling ruts
and removing vegetation from the road’s surface, clearing ditches and
culverts, and repairing bridges. The road system was divided into districts,
of which Palmyra had (for the years of the Smiths’ residence in the township)
thirty-one in 1817, thirty-four in 1818 and 1819, thirty-five in 1820,
thirty-seven in 1821, and forty in 1822. The law stipulated that town
meetings were to be held on the first Tuesday in April, at which time three
Commissioners of Highways were to be elected, along with an overseer for
each road district in the township. Overseers were to submit a list of aU those
in their district who were required by law to work on the roads to the
commissioners within sixteen days of their elections. After approval by the
commissioners, these lists were turned over to the town clerk in the latter
part of April and recorded by him (see Laws of the State of New York^ Revised,
1813, 2:125, 271-75, 309).

The present record lists Joseph Smith, Sr., on Palmyra road district 26
from 1817 through 1822. During the Smiths’ residence in Palmyra, district
26 began on the east end of Main Street near its intersection with the road
from Canandaigua, ran west into what is now Macedon township, and
included Stafford Road, which ran south to the boundary of Palmyra
township (see Record of Roads of the Town of Palmyra, 1793-1901, 94-95,
104, microfilm copies in State Library, Albany, New York, and Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah).

411

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

The Palmyra Road list of 1817 is the earliest known record of Joseph
Smith, Sr., in Palmyra. He is not listed on any road district prior to 1817,
indicating that he probably arrived in Palmyra sometime after April 1816 and
before April 1817. This fits with Lucy Smith’s claim that Joseph Sr. left
Norwich, Vermont, after the failure of their third harvest, either in late
summer or early fall of 1816 (LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845,
MS:33; see also ILB.16, SMITH FAMILY WARNING OUT OF NOR¬
WICH [VT], 27 MAR 1816).

The names on the road lists are generally arranged in the order in which
their residences and businesses appear moving west along Main Street, then
south on Stafford Road. In 1817 Joseph Smith, Sr., appeared as fifteenth on
a list of thirty-eight names, indicating that the Smiths were probably living
somewhere toward the west end of Main Street in 1817. While this location
conflicts with a later tradition that the Smiths “rented a small frame building
on the eastern outskirts of the village near where Johnson Street takes off
Vienna” (Bean 1938, 12), it is consistent with earlier information imparted
by Palmyra Presbyterian minister Horace Eaton in 1857 and 1863. In an 1857
sermon Eaton said the Smiths resided “on lower Main street” (H. Eaton
1858, 28-29). In an 1863 sermon, which remains unpublished, Eaton
expanded on this subject: “Where Asa Chase now resides there once stood
a house built by Sam[uel] Jennings. This house was occupied by Jes the father
of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, who came from Sharon Vt.
[in] 1817. Levi Afterwards Levi Daggett resided there & here occurred the
wedding of Henry Wells & Sarah Daggett” (“Continuation of the History
of Palmyra. A Sermon preached on the Annual day of Thanksgiving. Nov.
26, 1863. H. Eaton. Palmyra N.,” Palmyra King’s Daughters Free Library,
Palmyra, New York). ^ According to a 1907 history ofPalmyra, “Henry Wells
married his first wife — Sally Daggett — in the little weather beaten house that
stands opposite Stafford street on the north side of Main Street” {Palmyra[,]
Wayne County [, ] New York, 1907, 27). An early map ofPalmyra, dating from
the late 1860s or 1870s, identifies at this location the building and lot of
“[Asa] Chase & [Zebulon] Williams” (Palmyra King’s Daughters Free
Library, Palmyra, New York).

At this first residence, according to Pomeroy Tucker, Joseph Smith,
Sr., opened a “cake and beer shop” (IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867, 12). Wesley P. Walters speculated that Joseph Sr. may

1. Sarah Daggett (1803-59) married Henry Wells on 5 September
1827, their four children being born in Palmyra before moving to Aurora,
New York (Doggett 1973, 149-50, 199).

412

PALMYRA (NY) ROAD LISTS, 1817-1822

have also \vorked nearby at Joseph D. Hayward’s cooper shop (Walters
1987).

The Smiths apparently remained at this location for at least two years,
Joseph Sr. being hsted fifteenth on a list of thirty-two names in 1818, and
twentieth on a fist of forty names in 1819. Then, in 1820, Alvin Smith
appears as fifteenth and Joseph Sr. as forty-second on a list of forty-four
names. This undoubtedly indicates that sometime between April 1819 and
April 1820 part of the Smith family moved to the southern end of Stafford
Road. Two months later, on 13 June 1820, the record of a road survey
mentions “Joseph Smith’s dwelling house” as being located about fifty-nine
feet north and west of where the road meets the township fine dividing
Palmyra and Farmington (later Manchester) (see III.L.2, PALMYRA [NY]
HIGHWAY SURVEY, 13 JUN 1820). This is consistent with the state¬
ments of neighbors who said they first became acquainted with the Smiths
about 1820 (IILA.13, WILLIAM STAFFORD STATEMENT, 8 DEC
1833, 237; IILA.14, WILLARD CHASE STATEMENT, CIRCA 11
DEC 1833, 240; III.A.2, BARTON STAFFORD STATEMENT, 3 NOV
1833, 250; III.A.15, HENRY HARRIS STATEMENT, CIRCA 1833,
251; and III.A.4, JOSHUA STAFFORD STATEMENT, 15 NOV 1833,
258).

Alvin’s name appearing on the 1820 road list separate from his father’s
probably indicates that he continued to maintain the family store on Main
Street. By law, Alvin should have been listed in 1819 since he turned
twenty-one on 11 February 1819. Alvin may not have been present in April
1819, perhaps boarding and working in a neighboring township.

In 1821 Joseph Sr., Alvin, and Hyrum (who turned twenty-one on 9
February 1821) were listed as fifty-eighth, fifty-ninth, and sixtieth respec¬
tively on a hst of sixty-one names. In 1822 Joseph Sr. and Alvin were hsted
as thirty-first and thirty-second respectively on a list of fifty-four names. The
absence of Hymm’s name in 1822 suggests two possibilities: he either was
hired out to work in a neighboring town or was living on the family’s
Manchester land (for which they had contracted over a year previously),
perhaps dwelling in the partially constructed cabin (see III.L.4, SMITH
MANCHESTER [NY] LAND PJECOBJ9S, 1820-1830).

Unfortunately there are no road lists for 1823-25 for Palmyra, but
it is unlikely that the Smiths would have been Hsted for 1823, since their
Manchester cabin had been completed, and it is likely that they had moved
into it sometime between April 1822 and April 1823 (see III.L.4, SMITH
MANCHESTER [NY] LAND RECORDS, 1820-1830). Below is the
information taken from the Palmyra road fists pertaining to the Smiths.

413

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

PALMYRA ROAD DISTRICT 26 (1817-1822)

Year

Name

Position on List

Total Names

1817

Joseph Sr.

1818

Joseph Sr.

1819

Joseph Sr.

[Alvin absent]

1820

Alvin

Joseph Sr.

1821

Alvin

Joseph Sr.

Hyrum

1822

Joseph Sr.

Alvin

[Hyrum absent]

414

PALMYRA (NY) HIGHWAY SURVEY,
13 JUNE 1820

“Old Town Record, 1793-1870,” 221, Township Office, Palmyra, New
York.

EDITORIAL NOTE

On 13 June 1820, a survey crew laid out the extension ofStafibrd Street,
which ran from the extreme southern end of Palmyra township northward
to intersect Main Street. The survey began at the southern line which divided
Palmyra from Farmington (later Manchester) township “three rods fourteen
links [58.74 feet] southeast of Joseph Smith’s dwelling house.” The Smith
cabin was therefore situated about fifty-nine feet northwest of the center of
Stafford Road at the southern border of Palmyra township.

In 1982 an excavation team from Brigham Young University con¬
firmed that a dwelling had existed at this location (Berge 1985; Enders 1985).
Dale L. Berge, a professor of archaeology at Brigham Young University,
summarized the physical remains at the site:

When we began work, the site was in the middle of a cornfield. ... The
land had been plowed regularly, as deeply as ten inches, year after year
since the Smiths first worked it. ... Consequently, all artifacts to the
ten-inch level had been disturbed.

The foundation of the Smith cabin was probably like that of the Peter
Whitmer log house — shallow, possibly two cobbles wide and deep. Plow¬
ing would have disturbed these stones, and over the years farmers would
have removed them from the plowed field. ...

Three disturbances below the plow zone were identified: a well, a
shallow cellar, and an unknown feature of rocks.

The well measured ten feet across at its opening, narrowing to five
feet. ... A number of large rocks in the well appear to have been thrown in,
and not laid as a casing. Most of the rocks were burned on one side, indicat¬
ing that they were probably once part of the cabin fireplace. The few burnt-
brick fragments we found suggest that the fireplace was made of cobble¬
stones with a brick fire-box and possibly a hearth. ...

The small cellar measured ten feet by six feet, with a depth of two and
one-half feet. Inside we found many artifacts: ceramics, straight pins, buck-

415

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

les, knives, forks, spoons, burnt wheat and beans, and a lid for a cast-iron pot.
The small objects suggest that the cellar was under the floor of the kitchen,
because these types of objects could fall through cracks in the floorboards.
The larger objects, which were stratigraphically higher, may have fallen into
the cellar when the cabin was torn down or abandoned. We also found con¬
struction debris in the cellar, including brickbats and nails.

The unknown feature of rocks measured eight feet by six feet and
two feet deep. The center of this shallow pit contained a row of laid cob¬
bles, perhaps two or three feet deep. This feature may have been a footing,
possibly to the bedroom addition.

We are in the process of analyzing the artifacts — several thousand
pieces of ceramics (which date from 1790 to 1830, within the time range of
the occupation of the cabin), bottle glass, flat window glass, metal, and con¬
struction materials. ... The artifacts suggest that the Smith family was mid¬
dle-class American, using daily objects that were popular throughout the
country at the time (Berge 1985, 24-26).

Orsamus Turner undoubtedly described this cabin in his 1851 history.
According to Turner, Joseph Smith, Sr., “first settled in or near Palmyra
village, but as early as 1819 was the occupant of some new land on ‘Stafford
street’ in the town of Manchester, near the line of Palmyra.” In a footnote.
Turner added: “Here the author remembers to have first seen the family, in
the winter of [18] 19, [18]20, in a rude long house, with but a small spot
underbrushed around it” (III.J.2, ORSAMUS TURNER ACCOUNT,
1851, 212-13; see also III.J.35, THOMAS L. COOK HISTORY, 1930,
219). Turner’s account is consistent with information derived from the
Palmyra road lists indicating that sometime between April 1819 and April
1820 part of the Smith family moved to the south end of Stafford Road (see
III.L.l, PALMYRA [NY] ROAD LISTS, 1817-1822).

Because the cabin mentioned in the 1820 survey is located in Palmyra
on land then owned by Samuel Jennings,^ one researcher has suggested that
“the Smiths inadvertently built their cabin on the Palmyra side” (Enders
1985, 16). However, the evidence suggests the construction of a second cabin
located on the Smith property in Manchester.^ The reasons for the existence

1. Jennings owned 145 acres in the southwest comer of Palmyra Lot
43 (see Manchester Assessment Records, 1817-21, Ontario County Records
Center and Archives, Canandaigua, New York).

2. This possibility was first advanced by Wesley P. Walters in 1987
(see Walters 1987). Most of the arguments given below were outlined by
Walters.

416

PALMYRA (NY) HIGHWAY SURVEY, 1820

of a Manchester cabin are as follows:

1. Lucy Smith reported that her husband and two oldest sons “set themselves
about raising the means of paying for 100 Acres of land for which Mr. Smith
contracted and which was then in the hands of a land agent. ... In one years
time we made nearly all of the first pay=ment[.] The Agent advised us to
build a log house on the land and commenced clearing it[.] we did” (LB. 5,
LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:37; cf LD.2, WILLIAM SMITH
NOTES, 1875, 17). The Smiths’ land agent was Zachariah Seymour, who
received the power of attorney for the land on 14 July 1820 (Miscellaneous
Records, Ontario County Records Center and Archives, Canandaigua, New
York, Book C, 342-44, 347-48). So the Smiths did not start building their
cabin until after July 1820^ — the Jennings cabin being already in existence.
Moreover, a cabin built on the Palmyra side of the line would not have been
an improvement on land that they did not yet own.

2. On 7 July 1821 and 29 June 1822, the Smiths’ Manchester land was assessed
at $700, a typical price for unimproved land. But in the following year’s
assessment, taken on 24 July 1823, the same property was assessed at $1000,
a significant increase from the previous year (see IILL.6, SMITH MAN¬
CHESTER [NY] LAND ASSESSMENT RECORDS, 1821-1823 & 1830).
Since, according to Lucy Smith, the Smiths’ frame house was not begun until
November 1823 (LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:46), the
increase in the 1823 assessment would indicate completion of the cabin after
June 1822 and before July 1823.^

3. Lucy Smith said that in April 1829 her family was forced to vacate their
frame house and move “back to the log house we had formerly lived in ...
which was now occupied by Hyrum” (LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845,

3. Donald L. Enders puts too much weight on Lucy Smith’s statement
that “in 2 years from the time we entered Pal^'myra strangers destitute of
friends . . . home or emp=loyment. We were able to settle ourselves upon
our own land in a snug comfortable though humble habitation built and
neatly furnished by our own industry” (LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY,
1845, MS:38). Accordingly, Enders dates the construction of the Smiths’
cabin (i.e., the Jennings cabin) to 1818 (Enders 1985, 16). However, Lucy
makes it clear that the cabin had been completed about 1822, since she de¬
scribes the events of 1823 as “the spring after we moved onto the farm” and
the “3[rd] harvest time . . . since we opened our new farm” (LB.5, LUCY
SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:39, 40).

417

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

MS: 92). Yet this cabin is consistently described as being located in Manches¬
ter.

a. Although Hyrum had occupied the cabin since his marriage to Jerusha Bar¬
den in November 1826, his name does not appear on the 1827 or 1828 road
lists for Palmyra.

b. Hyrum’s daughter Lovina was bom on 16 September 1827, during his resi¬
dence in the cabin, and according to Smith family genealogy the event oc¬
curred “in Manchester, Ontario Co. New York” Qoseph F. Smith, Genea¬
logical Notes, Book 1, 105, George A. Smith Papers, Special Collections,
Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah).

c. Law suits against both Joseph Smith, Sr., and Hymm Smith were brought
before Manchester justice of the peace Nathan Pierce; Levi Daggett’s case
against Hymm, initiated in June 1830, is most telling since Daggett was a resi¬
dent of Palmyra; had both Daggett and Hymm been residents of Palmyra,
Pierce would have had no authority in the matter (IILL.19, NATHAN
PIERCE DOCKET BOOK, 1830).

d. The 1830 U.S. census lists the Joseph Smith, Sr., family in Manchester
(IILL.21, MANCHESTER [NY] CENSUS, 1830).

e. In 1830 Hyrum Smith was taxed for fifteen acres on Manchester Lot 1
(IILL.6, SMITH MANCHESTER [NY] LAND ASSESSMENT RE-
COPJDS, 1821-1823 & 1830).

f. In narrating events occurring in her home in 1830, Lucy repeatedly refers to
her residence in Manchester (LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845,
MS:fi*ag. 9 [front]; 1853:151, 157, 158, 168, 170).

g. Those who visited the Smith residence during this 1829-30 period —
Joseph Knight and Parley P. Pratt — said it was in Manchester (IV.A.l,
JOSEPH KNIGHT, SR., REMINISCENCE, CIRCA 1835-1847, 5, 6, 8;
IILK.16, PARLEY P. PRATT AUTOBIOGRAPHY, CIRCA 1854
[PART I], 46; IILK.21, PARLEY P. PRATT REMINISCENCE, 1856
[PART I]).

h. Various documents written during 1829-30 are dated and attributed to
Manchester, including the following: several of Joseph Smith’s revelations
(D&C 19, 21, 23; as per headings in Book of Commandments, chaps. XVI-
XXII); two letters of OHver Cowdery (IILG.2, OLIVER COWDERY TO
JOSEPH SMITH, 6 NOV 1829; IILG.3, OLIVER COWDERY TO

418

PALMYRA (NY) HIGHWAY SURVEY, 1820

JOSEPH SMITH, 28 DEC 1829); Joseph Smith, Sr., and Martin Harris
agreement regarding the sale of copies of the Book of Mormon, witnessed by
OHver Cowdery (IILL.17, JOSEPH SMITH, SR., AND MARTIN HAR¬
RIS AGREEMENT, 16 JAN 1830); and the “Missionaries Covenant,”
signed by OHver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer, Jr., and Ziba Pe¬
terson, and witnessed by Joseph Smith and David Whitmer (III.L.22, MIS¬
SIONARIES COVENANT, 17 OCT 1830).

4. In his 1867 history, Pomeroy Tucker described the Smith cabin as “a small,
one-story, smoky log-house, which they had built prior to removing there.
This house was divided into two rooms, on the ground-floor, and had a low
garret, in two apartments. A bedroom wing, built of sawed slabs, was
afterward added” (IIIJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867,
12-13)."^ Tucker said the cabin was on the Smiths’ former property located
“on the north border of the town of Manchester,” and that the property was
then owned by Seth T. Chapman. Since land records indicate that Chapman
owned the Smiths’ former property in Manchester since 1860 and that he
did not own property in Palmyra Township,^ the cabin described by Tucker
must have been in Manchester.

Thus it is with some justification that some researchers postulate the
existence of a Manchester cabin prior to the Smiths’ building their frame
home. To argue for the existence of only the Jennings cabin, which the
Smiths inadvertently built on the Palmyra side of the township line, one must
assume that the error was perpetuated not only by the Smiths but also by
authorities in both counties. However, the existence of the names of Joseph
Sr., Alvin, and Hyrum on the Palmyra road lists for 1820-22 strongly argues
that both the Smiths and village authorities understood that the cabin was in
Palmyra township. The surveyors of June 1820 certainly knew the location
of the township line. When the Smiths’ youngest child, Lucy, was born on

4. Tucker’s description of the Smiths’ cabin is typical of most cabins in
the area.

5. Absalom Weeks, Deed to Seth T. Chapman, 2 April 1860, Liber
119, 262, Ontario County Records Center and Archives, Canandaigua, New
York; cf. Porter 1971, 358. Both the Grantor and Grantee Indexes for 1823-
69 fail to list any land transactions for Seth T. Chapman in Wayne County,
New York. In fact, at the time of Tucker’s writing in 1867, the cabin on Jen¬
nings’s former land was then owned by Cornelius Drake and Harmon M.
Chapman, who purchased the land fi:om Absalom Weeks on 6 June 1864 (Li¬
ber 85, 528-29, Wayne County Clerk’s Office, Lyons, New York; see also T.
Cook 1930, 218-29).

419

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

18 July 1821, probably in the Jennings cabin, it was understood to have
occurred in Palmyra (LH.l, SMITH FAMILY GENEALOGY, 1834).
William Staflford, who lived farther south on Stafford Road, apparently
understood in 1833 that the cabin was situated in Palmyra when he said: “I
first became acquainted with Joseph Smith, Sen. and his family in the year
1820. They lived, at that time, in Palmyra, about one mile and a half from
my residence” (III. A. 13, WILLIAM STAFFORD STATEMENT, 8 DEC
1833, 237). It is therefore unlikely that had the Jennings cabin been the
residence of Hyrum and his family (and later Lucy and Joseph Sr.) that
Manchester authorities as well as the Smiths would have mistakenly believed
it was in Manchester. The existence of a second cabin on the Smiths’
Manchester land harmonizes an otherwise inexplicable group of historical
sources.

Despite the probability of the existence of a second cabin in Manches¬
ter, the Smiths did occupy the Jennings cabin on 13 June 1820 when the
following survey of Stafford Road was executed.

Minutes of the survey of a public Highway beginning on the south Hne
of Township No. 12[,] 2d range of townships in the town of Palmyra, three
rods fourteen links southeast of Joseph Smith’s dwelling house, thence
N[orth]. 3 [degrees] West 192 rods thence N[orth] 2 deg[rees] east 24 rods
thence North 3 deg[rees] west 76 rods, thence N[orth] 2 [degrees] W[est]
58 rods thence North 7 [degrees] east 26 rods thence N[orth]. 11 [degrees]
E[ast] 47 rods to the line of lots owned by Zebulun Williams^ and the heirs
of John Hurlbut^ thence N[orth] 1 1/2 [degrees] E[ast] on said line 68 rods
thence N[orth]. 4 deg[rees] West 42 rods to the south line of main Street
two rods west of the north west corner of a Lot of land formerly owned by
Joseph D Hayward[.]^ the above minutes are calculated to be the center of
the road and were taken by the poor old town compass, actually explored
and surveyed by us this 13th day of June 1820

6. Zebulon Williams came from Seneca County, New York, settled in
Palmyra about 1805, and became “Palmyra’s first merchant.” He also owned
a large tract of land (T. Cook 1930, 117, 122, 183).

7. On John Hurlbut, see III.A.ll, PALMYILA RESIDENTS
GROUP STATEMENT, 4 DEC 1833, n. 15.

8. Joseph D. Hayward owned the land on Stafford Road just south of
Jackson Street. Hayward, between twenty-six and forty-five years of age, is
listed in the 1820 census of Palmyra, Ontario County, New York (1820:331).

420

PALMYRA (NY) HIGHWAY SURVEY, 1820

Isaac Durfee^ Corns’ of

Lumon Harrison^^ Highways

I certify that the above is a true copy of the original minutes of which a copy
was posted on the door of the town house on the 13th day of June 1820 by
me

James White T[ow]n Cl[er]k^^

9. Isaac Durfee (1785-1855) was the son of Lemuel Durfee (T. Cook
1930, 210; Reed 1902, 1:318).

10. Luman Harrison, in his fifties, is listed in the 1830 census of
Palmyra, Wayne County, New York (1830:51).

11. James White opened a store at the east end of Main Street in
Palmyra in 1817. He was the founder of Palmyra’s Old Academy, a stock or¬
ganization, incorporated about 1821 (McIntosh 1877, 140; T. Cook 1930,
101, 226, 274).

421

FARMINGTON (NY) CENSUS RECORD, 1820

Federal Census Records, Farmington, Ontario County, New York,
1820:318. Family No. 524. Original in National Archives, Washington,
D.C.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Census taking by law was to begin on the first Monday in August (7
August 1820) and was completed by 5 February 1821 (Wright 1900, 134,
137). According to the Ontario Repository of August 1820, the 1820 enumera¬
tion began on time. Since the Smiths appear as family No. 524 on a 661-name
list, they were counted toward the end of the census in Farmington (later
Manchester), but not necessarily as late as February 1821.

FARMINGTON CENSUS DATA ANALYSIS TO SMITH FAMILY

number

sex

age

male

0-10

consistent for
William (age 9)
and Don Carlos
(age 4)

male

16-26

consistent for

Alvin (age 22),
Hyrum (age 20)

male

45-

consistent for

Joseph Sr. (age 49)

female

0-10

consistent for
Katharine (age 8)

female

16-26

consistent for
Sophronia (age 17)

female

26-45

consistent for

Lucy (age 44)

Note that both Joseph Jr. (age 14) and Samuel Harrison (age 12) are
missing. The 1820 enumerators were instructed not to include family
members whose “usual place of abode was, on the first Monday of August,
in another family” (Wright 1900, 135-36). Richard L. Anderson’s suggestion
that the two Smith boys “were likely boarded temporarily at another farm

422

FARMINGTON (NY) CENSUS RECORD, 1820

for some type of harvest labor” is probably correct (R. L. Anderson 1969b,
22). Both William and Joseph Smith mentioned that the Smith boys were
sometimes hired out and temporarily away from home (I.D.7, WILLIAM
SMITH INTERVIEW WITH E. C. BRIGGS, 1893; LA. 15, JOSEPH
SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 7).^

The 1820 census also indicates the occupations of the three adult males
listed in the Smith family: two in “agriculture,” and one under “manufac¬
tures.” Concerning the enumeration of manufacturers, census takers were
instructed: “[I]n the column of manufactures will be included not only all
the persons employed in what the act more specifically denominates manu¬
facturing establishments y but aU those artificers, handicrafts men, and mechan¬
ics, whose labor is preeminently of the hand, and not upon the field” (W right
1900, 135). Richard L. Anderson is likely correct when he states, “This
probably means that Joseph Smith, Sr. plied his trade of coopering and similar
production, whereas Alvin and Hyrum, then twenty-one and twenty, were
engaged mainly in the heavy work of farming” (R. L. Anderson 1969b, 22).

In June 1820, the Smiths were still in the Jennings cabin on the Palmyra
side of the township line (IILL.2, PALMYRA [NY] HIGHWAY SURVEY,
13 JUN 1820), where they apparently remained until sometime after April
1822 (see III.L.l, PALMYILA [NY] ROAD LISTS, 1817-1822). The listing
in the Farmington census rolls for 1820 only seems possible on the basis that
the Smiths had already contracted for their Manchester land (perhaps
working a portion of it) and were planning to move onto the property (see
Walters 1989). It is also possible that the census takers, like Orsamus Turner,
were mistaken about the location of the cabin. While the surveyors of
Stafford Road knew the location of the township line, its exact location at
this early period may not have been known by the general public.

1. Quinn’s suggestion that the fourteen-year-old Joseph Jr. was either
in Windsor, New York, or Harmony, Pennsylvania, working as a treasure
seer in 1820 is erroneous (1998, 51-52). See Vogel 1994, 213-27 and various
annotations in vol. 4 forthcoming.

423

Smith Manchester (NY) Land Records,

1820-1830

Heirs of Nicholas Evertson, Land Transfer to Lemuel Durfee, 20 December
1825, Deeds, Liber 44, 232, Ontario County Records Center and Archives,
Canandaigua, New York.

EDITORIAL NOTE

The Smiths’ occupation of their Manchester land, or a portion of it,
spanned from shortly after July 1820 to October 1830 and constitutes the
longest residence of the Smith family at any one location. The following is
a chronologically arranged summary of important events and documents
dealing with the Smiths’ Farmington/Manchester land .

1. 16 December 1795: Thomas Morris and James Wadsworth sell lands to
Nicholas Evertson and Benjamin Kissam of New York City, which includes
the Smiths’ Manchester property (Deeds, Liber 20, 39).

2. 12 July 1805: Cornelia Kissam, widow of Benjamin Kissam, releases land
to Nicholas Evertson of New York City (Deeds, Liber 20, 39).

3. 1807: Nicholas Evertson dies.

4. 21 June 1820: The executors of Nicholas Evertson’s estate convey to
Casper W. Eddy, a New York City physician, power of attorney to sell
Nicholas Evertson’s land holdings (Wills, Book 47, 7-11, Surrogate’s Court,
Manhattan Borough, New York County, New York).

5. 22 June 1820: The entire 300 acres of Farmington Lot 1 is taxed to the
heirs of Nicholas Evertson, indicating that the Smiths had not yet contracted
for the land (Farmington Assessment RoU, 1820, Ontario County Records
Center and Archives, Canandaigua, New York).

6. 14 July 1820: In Canandaigua, New York, Casper W. Eddy transfers his
power of attorney for Evertson lands to Zachariah Seymour (Miscellaneous
Records, Book C, 342-44, 347-48, Canandaigua Records Center and

1. Farmington became Burt on 31 March 1821, and Burt became Man¬
chester on 16 April 1822.

424

SMITH MANCHESTER (NY) LAND RECORDS, 1820-1830

Archives, Canandaigua, New York).

1 . 14 July 1820-5 February 1821 (probably summer of 1820f: Joseph Smith,
Sr., and Alvin Smith contract with Zachariah Seymour for 100 acres of
Farmington Lot 1. The original “Articles of Agreement” have not been
located and would not have been copied into county records until final
payment, which the Smiths failed to do. That such an “article” existed is
proven by the record of Squire Stoddard’s purchase of lands to the south of
the Smith property in November 1825. The record states that Stoddard’s
new land was situated immediately south of “lands heretofore articled to
Joseph and Alvin Smith” (Deeds, Liber 44, 220). The Smiths’ “Articles of
Agreement” apparently broke the payments down into three installments,
each due on the anniversary of the original contract, the first consisting of a
down-payment and an unspecified number of payments due in the course
of the first year. Lucy Smith said that the family had “made nearly all of the
first payment” in one year, but that “the second payment was now coming
due and no means as yet of meeting it.” Alvin therefore left home to find
work and raise “the second payment and the remainder of the first,” and
returned with “the necessary amount of money for all except the last
payment” (LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:37-40). In absence
of the original purchase agreement, the amount of down-payment and terms
of agreement are unknown.^

8. 7 August 1820-5 February 1821: Smiths enumerated in the Farmington
census, indicating that they had contracted for their property before that time
(IILL.3, FARMINGTON [NY] CENSUS, 1820).

9. 7 July 1821: Smiths taxed for 100 acres on Manchester Lot 1 for the first
time. Smith land assessed at $700, typical value of unimproved land (IILL.6,
SMITH MANCHESTER [NY] LAND ASSESSMENT RECORDS,
1821-1823 & 1830).

2. Dates derived from IILL.6, SMITH MANCHESTER (NY) LAND
ASSESSMENT RECORDS, 1821-1823 & 1830; and IILL.3, FARM¬
INGTON (NY) CENSUS RECOPJ9, 1820.

3. Richard L. Bushman has pointed out that 5 percent of the total pur¬
chase price was common (Bushman 1984, 202 n. 14; cf J. P. Walker 1986,
223). Bushman, following the traditional purchase date of 1818, has also sug¬
gested that the Smiths contracted for their land “a year too soon” since land
prices in the Genesee Valley dropped in 1819 (ibid., 210 n. 75). Now that
the date can be narrowed to 1820, Bushman may have inadvertently ex¬
plained the Smiths’ sudden ability to purchase land.

425

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

10. 14 July 1821-5 February 1822 (probably summer of 1821): Second payment
due on Smith property (see 7 above).

11. April 1822: Peter IngersoU moves onto Jennings’s property (see intro¬
duction to IILA.9, PETER INGERSOLL STATEMENT, 2 DEC 1833).

12. 29 June 1822: Smiths’ land assessed at $700, indicating that no significant
improvements had been made (SMITH MANCHESTER [NY] LAND
ASSESSMENT MCOILDS, 1821-1823 & 1830).

13. 2 July 1822: Smiths’ land agent, Zachariah Seymour, dies.

14. 14 July 1822-5 February 1823 (probably summer of 1822): Third and final
payment due on Smith property (see 7 above). Smiths unable to make this
last payment due to the death of land agent Zachariah Seymour (see LB. 5,
LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:39-40).

15. 24 July 1823: Smiths’ Manchester land assessed at $1,000, suggesting
completion of their log cabin (IILL.6, SMITH MANCHESTER [NY]
LAND ASSESSMENT RECORDS, 1821-1823 & 1830).

16. November 1823: Smiths raise frame of house on their Manchester
property. On 19 November 1823, Alvin dies; on his death bed he instructs
his brothers to finish the house (I.B.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845,
MS:45-46).

17. 17 May 1824: John Greenwood, a lawyer in New York City, receives
power of attorney over Evertson lands (Miscellaneous Records, Book C,
458-59, Ontario County Records Center and Archives, Canandaigua, New
York). Greenwood gives Smiths until 25 December 1825 to make the last
payment on their land (LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:51).

18. October 1S25: Josiah Stowell comes to the Smith residence “a short time
before the house was completed.” Joseph Sr. and Jr. accompany Stowell to
Harmony, Pennsylvania, in search of buried treasure (LB.5, LUCY SMITH
HISTORY, 1845, 1853:91).

19. November /December 1825: In Joseph Sr.’s absence, a Mr. Stoddard
attempts to swindle the Smiths out of their land (LB.5, LUCY SMITH
HISTORY, 1845, MS:53-58).''

4. By 1 November Joseph Sr. and Joseph Jr. were in Harmony, Penn¬
sylvania, searching for buried treasure with Josiah Stowell (V.E.l, ARTI¬
CLES OF AGILEEMENT, 1 NOV 1825). According to Lucy Smith, the

426

SMITH MANCHESTER (NY) LAND RECORDS, 1820-1830

20. 20 December 1825: Lemuel Durfee purchases the Smith property for
$1,135 and allows them to remain in their home as “renters” (Deeds, Liber
44, 232; LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:56-58; see also LD.4,
WILLIAM SMITH, ON MORMONISM, 1883, 13-14). Lucy Smith said,
“Mr Durfy gave us the priviledge of the place [for] one year with this
provision that samuel our 4th son was to labor for him 6 months. ... These
things were all settled upon and The con=clusion was that if after we had
kept the place in this way one year we still chose to remain we could have
the priviledge” (LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:57-58).

21. 12 June 1826: Lemuel Durfee’s will is drafted containing a provision for
the Smith property: “I hereby authorize empower my executors hereinafter
named to sell and con=vey the lot of land called the Evertson lot situate [d]
in the north West corner of the town of Manchester in the county of Ontario
being the lot on which Joseph Smith now lives containing about one hundred
acres of land and the avails of such sales to be distributed as follows amongst
my heirs (viz) two thirds thereof to be equally distributed amongst my four
sons Isaac, Oliver, Samuel and Bailey and the remaining third to be
distributed amongst my four daughters Phebe, Prudence, Mary and Irena in
equal proportions” (Wills, Book A, 225, Wayne County Clerk’s Office,
Lyons, New York).

22. 16 April 1827: Lemuel Durfee records in his account book: “S[amuel].
Harrison Smith Son of Joseph Smith began to Work for me by the Month,
is to Work 7 Months for the use of the place Where Said Joseph Smith Lives”
(see III.L.IO, LEMUEL DURFEE ACCOUNT BOOKS, 1827-1829). This
evidently represents a continuation of the agreement Durfee offered the
Smiths in 1825 (see 20 above). According to Lucy Smith, “we had agreed

two Josephs returned to Manchester on Thursday, 15 December (LB.5,
LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:55). While uncertainty surrounds the
identity of the “Mr. Stoddard” who attempted to acquire the Smith farm
through fraudulent means (see Ibid., n. 107), a recently discovered entry in
an Ontario County judgment docket strongly favors Russell Stoddard, who
sued Joseph Smith, Sr., on 19 February 1825 for $66.59 (Joseph Smith vs.
Russell Stoddard, 19 February 1825, Judgment Docket, Ontario County Re¬
cords Center and Archives, Canandaigua, New York). Stoddard, who lived
about a mile south of the Smiths, ran a lumber mill and may have supplied
materials for the construction of the Smiths’ frame house. The unpaid debt
may have provided Stoddard with leverage when negotiating with the land
agent for the Smiths’ property.

427

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

for the place <2> years” (I.B.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:92-
93).

23. April 1829: Smiths vacate their frame house and move back into their
former cabin with Hyrum and his family (I.B.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY,
1845, MS:92-93). Apparently RosweU Nichols and his wife Mary Durfee,
daughter of Lemuel, moved into the Smiths’ former home (see IILA.8,
ROSWELL NICHOLS STATEMENT, 1 DEC 1833).

24. 8 August 1829: Lemuel Durfee dies {Wayne Sentinel, 14 August 1829;
Reed 1902, 1:318).

25. 31 August 1829: Isaac Hussee and Peter Harris take oath to appraise
Lemuel Durfee’s estate. Their inventory of Durfee’s estate lists an unpaid
note ofjoseph Smith, Sr., and Abraham Fish for $37.50, plus $1 .42 in interest,
a total of $38.92 (see IILL.18, LEMUEL DURFEE PROBATE PAPERS,
1830; and IILL.19, NATHAN PIERCE DOCKET BOOK, 1830).

26. 5 July 1830: Fifteen acres on Manchester Lot 1, valued at $157.00, taxed
to Hyrum Smith (IILL.6, SMITH MANCHESTER [NY] LAND ASSESS¬
MENT ILECOILDS, 1821-1823 & 1830). This may have been the land on
which the Smiths’ Manchester cabin was situated, but this cannot be proven
from the assessment record; other records, especially Nathan Pierce’s docket
book, argue strongly for the Smiths’ cabin being located on this land (see
discussion in introduction to IILL.2, PALMYRA [NY] HIGHWAY SUR¬
VEY, 13JUN 1820).

27. Early October 1830^: Hyrum Smith and his family move to ColesviUe,
Broome County, and reside with Newel Knight (IV. A. 3, NEWEL
KNIGHT AUTOBIOGILAPHY, CIRCA 1846, 65; Porter 1971, 109).

28. Late October/Early November 1830: Before Joseph Sr.’s release from the
Canandaigua jail, Samuel Smith moves his mother and sister Lucy to their
new residence near Waterloo, Seneca County, New York (LB. 5, LUCY
SMITH HISTORY, 1845, 1853:167).

29. 9 April 1 834: The Smiths’ former Manchester property is sold by Durfee’s
executors, Oliver and Lemuel Durfee, Jr., to Mary (Durfee) Nichols for
$2,000 (Deeds, Liber 55, 558).

5. On the date of Hymm’s move to ColesviUe, see LB. 5, LUCY
SMITH HISTORY, 1845, n. 266.

428

SMITH MANCHESTER (NY) LAND RECORDS, 1820-1830

The document below is the record of the purchase of the Smith farm
by Lemuel Durfee on 20 December 1825 (see 20 above).

This Indenture Made the twentieth day of December in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty five between Eliza Evertson^
and David B. Ogden^ the majority of the surviving executors and trustees
appointed in and by the last will and testament of Nicholus Evertson deceased
bearing date the twelfth day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and seven of the first part and Lemuel Durfee of Palmyra in
Wayne County in the state of New York of the second part witnesseth that
the said parties of the first part by virtue of the power and authority of them
given in and by the said last will and testament and for and in consideration
of the sum of one thousand one hundred and thirty five dollars lawful money
of the United States of America to the said parties of the first part in hand
paid by the said party of the second part at and before the presenting and
delivery of these presents the receipt whereof whereby acknowledged and
the said party of the second part his heirs, executors and [p. 232] administra¬
tors thereof and therefrom forever hereby acquitted and discharged have
granted bargained sold unliened released and confirmed and by these presents
do grant bargain sell alien release and confirm unto the said party of the
second part his heirs and assigns forever AH that certain piece or parcel of
land situated in the town of Manchester county of Ontario and state of New
York viz Lot No one of the subdivision of original lot No one north of the
centre line in township of No 11 number eleven in the second range of
townships in said county of Ontario and bounded as follows viz beginning
at the northwest corner of said original lot No 1 number one thence running
easterly on the north line of said lot forty one chains and fifty links thence
southerly twenty four chains and nine links thence westerly forty one chains
and sixty three links to the west line of said original lot No 1 and from thence
northerly on the said west line twenty four chains and eight links to the place
of beginning containing ninety nine and an half acres inclusive of all highways
on the same agreeable to the survey ofjames Smedley Esquire^ together with
all and singular the edifices buildings rights members priv=ileges advantages

6. Eliza Evertson, in her fifties, is listed in the 1830 census of New
York City (1830:240).

7. David B. Ogden, in his fifties, is listed in the 1830 census of New
York City (1830:322).

8. See IILL.2, PALMYRA (NY) HIGHWAY SURVEY, 13 JUN

1830.

429

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

hereditaments and appurtenances to the Same belonging or in any wise
appertaining and the reversion and remainder and remainders rents issues and
profits thereof and every part and parcel thereon with the appurtenances And
also all the estate right title interest claim and demand whatsoever both in
law and equality which the said testator had in his life time and at the time
of his decease and which the said parties of the first part or either of them
have or hath by virtue of the said last will and testament <testament> or
otherwise of in and to the same and of in and to every part and parcel there^of
with the appurtenances to have and to hold the said premises above
mentioned and described and hereby granted and conveyed or intended so
to be with the appurtenances unto the said party of the second part his heirs
and assigns to the only proper use benefit and behoof of the second part his
heirs and assigns forever And the said parties of the first part for themselves
severally and respectively and for their several and respective heirs executors
and admin=istrators do severally and not jointly nor the one for the other
or others of them nor for the heirs executors or administrators or acts or
deeds of the other or others of them but each and every [one] of them for
himself and herself only and for his her and their heirs executors and
administrators and his her and their several and separate acts and deeds only
do covenant promise grant and agree to and with the said party of the second
part his heirs and assigns that the said party of the second part his heirs and
assigns shall and lawfully may from time to time and at all times forever
hereafter peaceably and quietly have hold use occupy possess and enjoy all
and singular the said heredita=ments and premises hereby granted and
conveyed or intended so to be with their and every of their appurtenances
and receive and take the rents issues and profits thereof to and for his and
their own use and benefit without any lawful let suit hindrance molestation
interruption or denial whatsoever of from or by them the said parties of the
first part their heirs or assigns or of from or by any other person or persons
whomsoever lawfully claiming or who shall or may lawfully claim hereafter
by from or under them or either of them by from or under the said testator
or by from or under them or either of their [p. 233] right title interest or
estate and that free and clear and freely and clearly discharged acquitted and
exonerated or otherwise well and rightly be saved defended kept harmless
and indemnified by them the said parties of the first part their heirs and assigns
of from and against all and all manner of former and other gifts grants bargains
sales mortgages and judgments and all other charges and incumbrances
whatsoever had made committed executed suffered or done by them the said
parties of the first part or by through or with their or either of their acts deeds
means consent procurement or [-] In witness whereof the said parties to these

430

SMITH MANCHESTER (NY) LAND RECORDS, 1820-1830

presents have hereunto interchangeably set their hands and seals the day and
year first above v^ritten

Sealed and delivered in the presence
of F. Fairlie

Eliza Evertson Executr. See
of N Evertson deceased
David B. Ogden

City and County of New York ss

On the twentieth day of December in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and twenty five appeared before me EHza Evertson
and David B. Ogden known to me to be the same persons described in the
foregoing deed who acknowledged before me that they executed the same
for the uses and purposes therein mentioned I <do> allow the same to be
recorded.

Frederick Fairlie Commissioner
to take acknowledgements of deeds &c

431

Gain C. and Cains C. Robinson
ACCOUNT BOOKS, 1820-1830

1. Gain C. and Cains C. Robinson Invoice Book, 1819-1831 (entries
of 13 July 1820, 30 October 1823, 17 November 1823, 9 June
1828, 8 May 1829), Palmyra Kang’s Daughters Free Library,

Palmyra, New York.

2. Cains C. Robinson & Co. Account Book, 1819-1831 (entries of 17
November 1823, 1 January 1829), Palmyra King’s Daughters Free
Library, Palmyra, New York.

3. Gain C. Robinson Day Book, 21 July 1823-2 June 1826 (entry of 20
November 1823), Palmyra King’s Daughters Free Library, Palmyra,
New York.

4. Gain C. Robinson Store Book, 1825-1829 (entries of 2 May 1825, 1
February 1828, 26 March 1829), Palmyra King’s Daughters Free
Library, Palmyra, New York.

5. Cains C. Robinson Journal Book, 11 February 1826-1 September
1828 (entries of 16 July 1827, 18 September 1827, 12 July 1828, 22
July 1828, 20 August 1828), Palmyra King’s Daughters Free Library,
Palmyra, New York.

6. Cains C. Robinson Day Book, 2 June 1827-3 January 1829 (entry
of 18 September 1827), Palmyra King’s Daughters Free Library,
Palmyra, New York.

7. Gain C. Robinson Day Book, 20 June 1826-30 August 1827
(entries of 16 April 1827, 23 April 1827), Palmyra King’s Daughters
Free Library, Palmyra, New York.

8. Gain C. Robinson Day Book, 1 September 1827-12 February 1830
(entries of 29 January 1828, 9 June 1828, 11 September 1828, 1
January 1829, 11 March 1829, 25 March 1829, 16 January 1830),
Palmyra King’s Daughters Free Library, Palmyra, New York.

432

GAIN C. AND CAINS C. ROBINSON ACCOUNT BOOKS, 1820-1830

9. Gain C. Robinson Index, undated, Palmyra King’s Daughters Free
Library, Palmyra, New York.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Gain C. Robinson (c. 1769-1831), a physician who had an office and
drug store at the west end of Main Street (T. Cook 1930, 125), was probably
one of the doctors who attended Alvin on the day of his death (LB. 5, LUCY
SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:46). As a member of Palmyra’s Presbyterian
church, he was disciplined on 16 March 1828 for “immoderate and in=tem-
porate use of Spiritous liquors to the great injury of his Christian character
and usefulness” (“Records of the Session of the Presbyterian Church in
Palmyra,” 2:1, microfilm copy, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young
University, Provo, Utah). Robinson, in his sixties, is listed in the 1830 census
of Palmyra, New York (1830:36). Robinson died at Palmyra on 21 June
1831 {Wayne Sentinel, 24 June 1831; McIntosh 1877, 142).

Robinson was apparently in business with Cains C. Robinson, perhaps
his son, who, in his twenties, also appears in the 1830 census of Palmyra
(1830:36).

A note accompanying Gain C. Robinson’s Day Book (20 June
1826-30 August 1827), dated 1 December 1923, indicates that descen¬
dant Edwin H. Robinson turned the books over to Sanford D. Van
Alstine, who evidently placed them in the Palmyra King’s Daughters
Free Library. Caution is advised since it is not always clear if the
Smiths referred to in the Robinson account books are members of the
Joseph Smith, Sr., family. The 1820 and 1830 federal censuses hst sev¬
eral Smith families in the area.

[1. Gain C. and Cains C. Robinson Invoice Book, 1819-1831]^

date name debt amount page

1820 July 13 Smith Alvin [GR Bad] .63 32

1. The following accounts, which have been extracted from the Gain
C. and Cains C. Invoice Book, appear in ledger form with the customer’s
name entered on the left side of the page and the amounts entered in one of
four columns to the right. At the top of each column appears the following
designations: “GR good” (= Gain Robinson good debt, or credit), “GR
bad” (= Gain Robinson bad debt), “CCR good” (= Cains C. Robinson
good debt, or credit), and “CCR bad” {= Cains C. Robinson bad debt). Evi¬
dently the two men ran separate businesses but kept their records in the same
book.

433

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

1823 Nov 17^

Smith Joseph

[GR Bad]

[OCR Bad]

6.63

6.13

[1828] June 9

Smith Hiram
“One Cow” [?]

[OCR Bad]

16.75

[1829] May 8

Smith

William^

[GR Good]

1.00

1823 Oct 30

Smith Joseph
“Note”

[GR Bad]

4.25

1823 Oct. 30

Smith Hiram

[GR Bad]

11.75

[2. Cains C. Robinson & Co. Account Book, 1819-1831]^

Joseph Smith Dr^

1823, November 17th^

P.b7 36,300„48,100„

2. Among the purchases made on this date, which was two days fol¬
lowing Alvin’s taking a lethal dose of Calomel and two days before his death,
might be the medicine prescribed by Dr. Alexander McIntyre in an attempt
to dislodge the Calomel (LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:45-
46). Compare entry of 17 November 1823 in “Cains C. Robinson & Co. Ac¬
count Book, 1819-1831” (item 2 below).

3. The three references to William Smith included in this collection
may not refer to WiUiam Smith, the son of Joseph Smith, Sr. The 1820 cen¬
sus of Farmington (now Manchester) lists two other WiUiam Smiths (family
Nos. 552 and 607). In the 1830 census of Manchester, there are listed in suc¬
cession a “William F. Smith” and a “Shubel Smith” (famUy Nos. 104 and
105), as well as two other William Smiths (famUy Nos. 363 and 387). The
medical entries in the Gain Robinson Day Book, 1826-1827 (item 7 below),
are especially suspect since a third entry for 7 May 1827 reads: “Wm Smith
by Shubal Smith <Visit med> .50.”

4. This account book is arranged with names written on opposing
pages: first names on the left and last on the right. On the right side of each
page are columns: side A for debts, and side B for credits.

5. “Dr” signifies “debtor” or “debt record.”

6. This entry ties in with one under the same date in the Robinson in¬
voice book (see item 1 above).

7. Meaning of the initials “P.B.” and “B.C.” are unknown, perhaps
the initials of clerks. The numerical entries apparently represent: 36 at $3.00
+ 48 at $1.00 + 208 at 50^ + 117 at 500 + 151 at 500 = $5.50; and 39 at 130
+ 170 at 250 + 344 at 750 = $1.13; for a total of $6.63. The numbers might
be codes for specific items for sale in the Robinson store.

434

GAIN C. AND CAINS C. ROBINSON ACCOUNT BOOKS, 1820-1830

208,50„117,50„151„50 5.50

39,13,, B.C. 170,25„344,75„ 1.13 6.63

[p. 144a]

[Joseph Smith] Cr^

1829 Jany 1st

B.C. 232,37,, [p. 144b]

[3. Gain C. Robinson Day Book, 1823-1826]

[20 Nov 1823]^ Joseph Smith visit attend 3.00 [p. 36]

[4. Gain C. Robinson Store Book, 1825-1829]^^
Dr Joseph Smith

1825 May 2nd, B.A.^^ 29,6„ . 6

270,75„301,2,44„040. 3.19

413,75„416,175„200„422,100„ 5.50

434,50„62,13„ ^

9.38

[Joseph Smith] Cr.

8. “Cr” signifies “credit” or “credit record.”

9. Larry C. Porter incorrectly dated this entry to 19 November 1823,
the date of Alvin’s death (Porter 1971, 74). But this entry is clearly under 20
November 1823, the possible date of Alvin’s autopsy. Robinson was evi¬
dently one of the four doctors described by Lucy Smith as accompanying Dr.
Alexander McIntyre during his treatment of Alvin and subsequent autopsy
(LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:46; Porter 1971, 71-76). Ro¬
binson was Dr. McIntyre’s uncle and medical mentor.

10. In this record entries appear on a single page, with debts recorded
on the left side and credits on the right. For convenience, credits and debts
have been separated.

11. Meaning of the initials “B.A.” remains a puzzle, but the numerical
entries apparently represent: 29 at 6^ = 60 + 270 at 750 + 301 at $2.44 =
$3.19 (040 unexplained; added in different ink); and 413 at 750 + 416 at
$1.75 + $2.00 + 422 at $1.00 = $5.50; and 434 at 500 + 62 at 130 = 630; for
a total of $9.38.

435

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

1828 Feby 1

346, 2.00„412, 87, 422,38,,

3.25
[p. 38]

Hiram Smith

1829 March 26

J.C. 105,25,,

[p. 224]

[5. Cains C. Robinson Journal Book, 1826-1828]

[A, 16 July 1827]

38^^ Joseph Smith for Wife

To l/4th Vermillion^

2 oz chrome yellow^ ^

[B. 18 September 1827]

Tuesday Sept. 18th 1827 ...

Joseph Smith for Son
To 9 Papers L[amp]. Bl[ac]k^^

Red Lead^^

@ 16/— [-]

@ 1/- [-]

[p. 270]

1/— 1.13

6 @ 06

12. Meaning of the initials “D.B.” remains unknown, but the num¬
bered entries apparently represent: 346 at $2.00 + 412 at 870 + 422 at 380 =
$3.25.

13. The number “38” that frequently appears next of Joseph Sr.’s
name is evidently an account number.

14. A bright red or scarlet pigment, probably used in paint. Lucy
Smith is known to have worked at “painting oil cloth coverings for tables [,]
stands &c” (LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:37, 1835:70).

15. A pigment made from chromium compound, probably used in
paint (see note 14 above).

16. Quinn has speculated that the purchase of “lampblack” only days
before Joseph Smith’s final visit to the hill was for occult-magical purposes
(Quinn 1987, 141). But this is unlikely not only because the entry could per¬
tain to any of Joseph Sr.’s sons, but also because lampblack was commonly
used to finish furniture, which is the more probable use judging by the other
items purchased at the same time (see IILB.12, LORENZO SAUNDERS
INTERVIEW, 17 SEP 1884, 2, who mentions Lucy Smith’s painting chairs
with lampblack). Lampblack (soot) was also used to make ink. Compare entry
of 18 September 1827, under item 6 below.

17. Probably used as a pigment in paint (see note 14 above).

436

GAIN C. AND CAINS C. ROBINSON ACCOUNT BOOKS, 1820-1830

G[u]m Shlack [shellac]**

6 @

Litharge'^

6 @

1 Gal. L[inseed]. oil^**

9/—

1.13

2.44

[p. 301]

[C. 12 July 1828]

Saturday July 12th 1828

38 Joseph Smith
By Cash —

[D. 19 July 1828]

Saturday July 19th 1828 ...

38 Joseph Smith

To l/2th

Gum Shellac

@3/ —

.19

" 1/2 "

White Lead^’

@1/4 —

.08

" 1/2 "

VermiUion

@14/—

.44

" 1/4"

Prussian Blue^^

@22/—

.69

" 1/4"

Crome Y ellow

@10/—

.31

" 1/4 "

Sal. Glauber^^

@1/4

.14

$1.75

[p. 416]

[E. 22 July 1828]

Tuesday July 22nd 1828 ...

38 Joseph Smith Dr /to Son

H— .87 [p. 412]

18. Probably used to finish furniture (see note 16 above).

19. Perhaps “Litharge Plaster,” used externally for medicinal purposes
(see Seaman 1811, 32).

20. Probably used in finishing furniture and making oil-based paint
from pigment.

21. Probably used as a pigment in paint (see note 14 above).

22. Probably used as a pigment in paint (see note 14 above).

23. “Sal glauberi,” called “Glauber’s salt” or “sulphate of soda,” made
from burnt bones and other additives, was sometimes used for medicinal pur¬
poses (see Pharmacopaeia of the Massachusetts Medical Society, 1808, 51-52, 206,
225, 267; Pharmacopaeia Nosocomii Neo-Eboracensis, 1816, 82, 88, 135, 137).

437

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

To 1 Gallon Linseed Oil @ 8/ 1.00

"4th Lamp Black @2/ 1.00

$2.00 [p. 416]

[F. 20 August i828]

Wednesday August 20th 1828

38 Joseph Smith [Dr]

To 1th Lamp Black 2/ .25

" 1 G1 [gallon] Terpentine^"^ 2/ .25 .50

[p. 434]

[6. Cains C. Robinson Day Book, 1827-1829]
Tuesday Sept 18th 1827 ...

Joseph Smith for Son

To 9 papers Lamp Black

@1/

1.13

1 Red Lead

1 Gam Shelac

Litherage

1 gallon Linseed Oil

@ 9/

1.13

2.44

[p. 73]

[7. Gain C. Robinson Day Book, 1826-1827]

[A. 16 April 1827]

14425 Joseph Smith visit med[icine] .50

Wm Smith, Manchester, visit <Mother> med[icine] 2.00

[B. 23 April 1827]

Wm Smith, Manchester, Visit <mother> med[icine] 1.00

24. Probably used as a thinner or solvent in paint, especially in staining
wood, although it was also used medicinally (see Pharmacopaeia Nosocomii Neo-
Eboracensis, 1816, 24, 151).

25. The number “144” that appears before Joseph Sr.’s name several
times is apparently an account number.

438

GAIN C. AND CAINS C. ROBINSON ACCOUNT BOOKS, 1820-1830

[5. Gain C. Robinson Day Booky 1827-1830]

[A. 29 January 1828]

144 Joseph Smith Sen To Calomel^^ <for wife> .13 [p. 39]

[B. 9 June 1828]

Hiram Smith Extract Dent[est?] .25 [p. 94]

[C. 11 September 1828]

144 Joseph Smith Med[icine] & cons [?]

<for Boy Harrison>^^ .15 [p. 170]

[D. 1 January 1829]

144 Joseph Smith

By balance on

M [Porter?] Order

.37 [p. 232]

[E. 11 March 1829]

LC 63 Hiram Smith

visit & med[icine]

.50 [p. 258]

[F. 25 March 1829]

LC 133 Hiram Smith

visit Med[icine]

& [-] Sick <for wife>

.75 [p. 266]

[G. 16 January 1830]

144 Joseph Smith

To 1/3 of [Michael] Eggleston^®

Charges

.75 [p. 344]

26. Calomel, a white, tasteless power sometimes used as a laxative (see
Pharmacopaeia Nosocomii Neo-Eboracensis, 1816, 79, 149).

27. This may have been when Lucy and Joseph Sr. returned to Man¬
chester from visiting Joseph and Emma at Harmony, Pennsylvania, and found
Samuel Harrison and Sophronia “very sick” (see I.B.5, LUCY SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1845, MS:86-87).

28. An entry for Eggleston reads: “28 D.B. Michael Eggleston 1/3 of
Dr [debt] J[oseph?]. S[mith?]. [-] .58” (p. 348). Eggleston, over forty years of
age, is listed in the 1820 census of Palmyra.

439

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

[9. Index, undated^'^

Smith & Fish^° — CP Stout [page] 1 1

Smith Wm — C Finly [page] 30

29. Although catalogued and filmed by Utah Genealogical Society
with “Gain C. Robinson Store Book, 1815-1829,” this unpaginated item is
an alphabetical listing and index to a record not presently found among the
Robinson papers.

30. Perhaps Abraham Fish (see IIl.L. 11, JOSEPH SMITH RECEIPT
TO ABRAHAM FISH ACCOUNT, 10 MAR 1827; III.L.18, LEMUEL
DURFEE PROBATE PAPERS, 1830; and III.L.19, NATHAN PIERCE
DOCKET BOOK, 1830). On Abraham Fish (c. 1773-1845), see III.I.4,
NATHANIEL W. HOWELL AND OTHERS TO ANCIL BEACH, JAN
1832, n. 3.

440

Smith Manchester (NY) land Assessment
RECORDS, 1821-1823 & 1830

1. Farmington Assessment Roll, 7 July 1821, 25, Ontario County
Records Center and Archives, Canandaigua, New York.

2. Manchester Assessment Roll, 29 June 1822, 16, Ontario County
Records Center and Archives, Canandaigua, New York.

3. Manchester Assessment Roll, 24 July 1823, 17, Ontario County
Records Center and Archives, Canandaigua, New York.

4. Manchester Assessment Roll, 5 July 1830, 23, Ontario County
Historical Society, Canandaigua, New York.

EDITORIAL NOTE

The Farmington/Manchester land assessment records that pertain to
the Smiths’ property were recovered from the basement of the Ontario
County Courthouse in 1985. Except for the years 1830, 1833, and 1835
(which are housed in the Ontario County Historical Society), the original
assessment records are now located in the Ontario County Records Center
and Archives, Canandaigua, New York. Unfortunately, the assessment
records for the years 1824 through 1829 are presently missing.

Joseph Smith, Sr., appears on the Farmington assessment roll for 1821,
and on the Manchester assessment rolls for 1822 and 1823, while Hyrum
appears on the Manchester assessment rolls for 1830. The assessments were
recorded on a printed form arranged in seven columns, each designated as
follows: Names of Possessors; Remarks by Assessors; Description of Real
Estate; Amount of Real Estate; Amount of Personal Estate; Total, Real and
Personal Estate; and Tax to be paid thereon. The assessment records yield
the following information about the Smiths:

1. Farmington Assessment Roll, 7 July 1821:

Names of Possessors.
Remarks by Assessors.
Description of Real Estate.
Amount of Real Estate.
Amount of Personal Estate.

Smith Joseph

p[ar]t Lot No 1 2d [Range]
100 [acres]

[$]700

441

o u
X p
2

-a

.Sf

*co

CO ^

^ -t

X -G
o u

^ JS
o <
*-• ...«
Gh ^

^ eo

c/3

blD

c/3

Tf-

LAND ASSESSMENT RECORDS, 1821-1823 & 1830

Total, Real and Personal Estate. [$]700

Tax to be paid thereon. [$]1.58

In the above assessment, Joseph Sr. is taxed for 100 acres of land on
Manchester Lot 1 for the first time. The previous assessment of 1820 indicates
that the entire 300 acres of Lot 1 was taxed to the heirs of Nicholas Evertson
(see Farmington Assessment Roll, 22 June 1820, Ontario County Records
Center and Archives, Canandaigua, New York); and the 1821 assessment
shows the remaining 200 acres of Lot 1 were taxed to Evertson’s heirs. The
value of $700 for the land, or $7 an acre, is what uncleared land sold for in
the area at that time (Walters 1987; Enders 1993, 218; see also Brodie 1945,
10).

2. Manchester Assessment Roll, 29 June 1822:

Names of Possessors. Smith Joseph

Remarks by Assessors. [part of Lot No] 1

Description of Real Estate. 100 [acres]

Amount of Real Estate. [$]700

Amount of Personal Estate.

Total, Real and Personal. [$]700

Tax to be paid thereon. [$]2.01

In this assessment, the Smiths’ 100-acre farm is valued at $700, the same
as the previous year’s assessment, indicating that no significant improvement
had been made by 29 June 1822.

3. Manchester Assessment Roll, 24 July 1823:

Names of Possessors. Smith Joseph

Remarks by Assessors. 2 [Quality of Land]

[part of lot] 1

Description of Real Estate. 100 [acres]

Amount of Real Estate. [$]1000

Amount of Personal Estate.

Total, Real and Personal Estate. [$]1000

Total to be paid thereon. [$]3.83

In this assessment, the Smiths’ 100-acre farm is valued at $1,000, a $300
increase from the previous year’s assessment. The Smiths’ increase of over 40
percent, when compared with the average 4 percent increase for the town¬
ship, indicates that the Smiths had completed construction of their cabin and

443

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

cleared and cultivated a significant portion of their land (Walters 1987).^

4. Manchester Assessment Roll, 5 July 1830:

Names of Possessors. Smith Hiram

Remarks by Assessors. [Part Lot No] 1

Description of Real Estate. 15 [acres] [2nd Quality]

Amount of Real Estate. [$]157

Amount of Personal Estate.

Total — Real and Personal Estate. [$]157

Tax to be paid thereon. .39

In this assessment, Hyrum is taxed 39 cents for fifteen acres on Lot 1.
That this “Hiram Smith” is the son of Joseph Sr., and not the other “Hiram
Smith” also living in Manchester at the time, is supported both by his location
on Lot 1 and the absence of this “Hiram Smith” from subsequent assessments.
It is probable that the Smiths’ Manchester cabin stood on this fifteen-acre
farm, but this cannot be proven from the assessment itself Instead numerous
historical and legal sources place Hyrum’s cabin in Manchester (see discussion
in introduction to IILL.2, PALMYRA [NY] HIGHWAY SURVEY, 13
JUN 1820). That Hyrum did not own this property is made clear from the
fact that on 26 October 1830 Constable Harrington tried to collect the
remainder of a debt that Hyrum owed but returned the warrant to Justice
Pierce with the notation, “no property nor body to be found.” Hyrum had
suddenly moved to ColesviUe, New York, earlier that month, leaving the
debt unpaid and no real estate that could be seized for its recovery (see
IILL.19, NATHAN PIERCE DOCKET BOOK, 1830). Wesley P. Walters
argued that “the tax probably represents an arrangement with the Durfees in

1. Donald L. Enders, who argues that Samuel Jennings’s Palmyra cabin
was the only cabin in the area in which the Smiths lived, suggested to me
(July 1993) that the $300 increase in value in 1823 could have been due to
the constmction of the frame house, rather than to an additional cabin and
clearing of the land. This suggestion is contradicted not only by Lucy Smith,
who said the frame house was begun in November 1823 immediately preced¬
ing Alvin’s death, but a host of other evidences as well (see discussion in in¬
troduction to IILL.2, PALMYRA [NY] HIGHWAY SURVEY, 13 JUN
1820). Unfortunately, the Manchester assessments from 1824 through 1829
are missing, but Lemuel Durfee purchased the Smiths’ property on 20 De¬
cember 1825 for $1,135, a $135 increase from 1823 (see IILL.4, SMITH
MANCHESTER [NY] LAND RECORDS, 1820-1830). Larry C. Porter
has suggested at least two locations where the Manchester log cabin could
have stood (Porter 1971, 43-44).

444

LAND ASSESSMENT RECORDS, 1821-1823 & 1830

which Hiram [Hyrum] was to pay the annual assessment as a part of the
agreement” (Walters 1987).

The table below compares the significant information taken from the
four assessments discussed above.

ITEMS TAXED

1821

1822

1823

1830

Names of

Possessors

Joseph

Hiram

Acres

Value of Real

100

Estate

Value of

Personal

$700

$1,000

$157

Property

000

Taxes paid

$1.58

$2.01

$3.83

.39

445

SAMUEL JENNINGS ESTATE PAPERS, 1822

“An inventory of the property of Samuel Jennings Deceased,” 5 June 1822,
10, 12, Samuel Jennings Estate Papers, Ontario County Records Center and
Archives, Canandaigua, New York.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Samuel Jennings (P-1821) owned a store at the east end of Main Street
since at least 1812 (T. Cook 1930, 66; Backman 1980, 36). Sometime
between April 1819 and April 1820, the Smiths apparently moved from the
west end of Main Street to a small cabin on Jennings’s property located south
of Palmyra village on Stafford Road,^ where they evidently remained until
they moved onto their Manchester property sometime between June 1822
and July 1823 (see III.L.4, SMITH MANCHESTER [NY] LAND ILE-
CORDS, 1820-1830).^ The Smiths were evidently stiU living in the Jennings
cabin when its owner died on 1 September 1821. When an inventory of
Jennings’s estate was made on 5 January 1822 by administrators Margaret
Jennings and Isaac HoweU, Joseph Smith, Sr., was listed twice showing a
debt of $11.50 (p. 10, line 23)^ and, under an inventory of Jennings’s store,
$1.00 (p. 12, line 10). The inventory ends with the following certification:
“The forgoing Inventory Sworn to by the Administrators before me Ira Selby
Sarrogatc[.] June 5th 1822.” On 13 February 1822, the following notice
appeared in the Western Farmer :

NOTICE.

All persons having unsettled accounts with the estate of Samuel Jennings, de¬
ceased, are requested to call on the subscribers and settle the same on as before
the first day of April next [1822].

1. Jennings owned 145 acres on the southwest portion of Palmyra Lot
43 (Farmington Assessment, 1820, Ontario County Records Center and Ar¬
chives, Canandaigua, New York).

2. Peter IngersoU moved onto the Jennings property about April 1822
(see introduction to III.A.9, PETER INGERSOLL STATEMENT, 2 DEC
1833).

3. It cannot be proven, but possibly this debt includes rent on the Jen¬
nings cabin.

446

SAMUEL JENNINGS ESTATE PAPERS, 1822

All notes contracted to be paid in gain to said estate, which become
due in January and February next will be received accordingly, if delivered
when due.

MARGAP^T Jennings,
Isaac Howell

Palmyra, Dec. 25, 1[8]21

Administrator] ^s

[See accompanying photographic reproduction.]

447

Samuel Jennings Estate Papers, 5 June 1822, p. 10. Showing a debt of $11.50
for Joseph Smith, Sr. Courtesy Ontario County Records Center and Archives,

Canandaigua, New York.

ALVIN SMITH GRAVESTONE,
19 NOVEMBER 1823

Alvin Smith Gravestone, 19 November 1823, General John Swift Memorial
Cemetery, Palmyra, New York.

EDITORIAL NOTE

One of the pivotal events in the lives of Smith family members was the
death of Alvin Smith. ^ Both Joseph Smith and Lucy Smith perpetuated an
incorrect date for Alvin’s death, believing that it had occurred in 1824 (see
I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 7; and L. Smith 1853, 40, 87).
Alvin Smith’s gravestone at Palmyra’s General John Swift Memorial Ceme¬
tery confirms his death date as 19 November 1823. Alvin’s gravestone reads:

In memory of
Alvin, Son of Joseph
& Lucy Smith, who
died Nov. 19, 1823,
in the 25, year of
his age.

The General John Swift Memorial Cemetery is located on the west
side of Church Street one-half block north of Main Street. John Swift, who
died in 1814, donated the land for Palmyra’s first cemetery (T. Cook 1930,
262). Alvin’s gravestone, which is now preserved in a granite casing and
stands upright, is located in the southwest corner of the cemetery. At the top
of the original gravestone appears a “weeping willow” tree. Concerning the
prevalence of this gravestone image, Allen 1. Ludwig has written: “Trees
abound on the carved stone markers of New England and during the late
years of the 18th century they were taken over by the newer neoclassical
stones when they were transformed into the stiU popular weeping willow
seen so often on 19th century mourning pictures” (Ludwig 1966, 121).
Alvin’s marker may have been carved by Mason Sherman, who advertised

1. For an account of the events related to Alvin’s death, see LB. 5,
LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:45-49.

449

Alvin Smith Gravestone, General John Swdft
Memorial Cemetery, Palmyra,

New York. Photograph by Rick Grander, 1992.

ALVIN SMITH GRAVESTONE, 1823
his stone cutting business in the Wayne Sentinel (e.g, 1 October 1823).

[See accompanying photograph.]

451

PALMYRA (NY) MASONIC RECORDS,

1827-1828

“Return of the Mount Moriah Lodge No. 112 held in the Town of Palmyra
in the County of Wayne and State of New York from June 4th AL 5827
[1827] to June 4th AL 5828 [1828],” Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted
Masons of the State of New York, Chancellor Livingston Library, New
York, New York.

EDITORIAL NOTE

This record lists a “Hiram Smith” as one of the members of the Mount
Moriah Masonic Lodge No. 112 of Palmyra, New York, for the years
1827-28. Concerning this source, Richard L. Anderson has written: “Hyrum
indeed appears on the Palmyra report covering the period to June 4, 1828,
just a year before he became a Book of Mormon witness. He is one of
fifty-nine members, and is not named as newly initiated that year. This means
that normal Masonic procedures of unanimity had admitted him on grounds
that his character would honor that organization” (R. L. Anderson 1981,
145). Although it is not altogether certain that the “Hiram Smith” listed in
this record is Hyrum Smith, the son of Joseph Smith, Sr., Anderson is
probably correct.

The presence of another Hiram Smith in Manchester at the same time
brings Anderson’s assumption into question. A Hiram Smith is listed as the
overseer of Manchester road district 30 for the years 1829, 1834, and 1837
(Manchester Town Records, Manchester Town Hall, Manchester, New
York). This same Hiram Smith signed Philastus Hurlbut’s general Manches¬
ter affidavit (I.A.ll, MANCHESTER ILESIDENTS GROUP STATE¬
MENT, 3 NOV 1833), and was most likely the person whom Theophilus
Short sued on 22 February 1830 (see III.L.19, NATHAN PIERCE
DOCKET BOOK, 1830). This other Hiram Smith does not appear in the
1830 census of Manchester, which probably indicates that he was not the
head of a household and was perhaps enumerated with his father.^

Despite these reservations, several sources confirm the fact that Hyrum

1. Of the nine other Smiths listed in the 1830 Manchester census,
Shubel Smith (with three sons in their twenties) is the only one who qualifies
as the possible father of Hiram Smith.

452

PALMYRA (NY) MASONIC RECORDS, 1827-1828

did belong to Palmyra’s Mount Moriah Lodge, No. 112. The Nauvoo
(Illinois) Masonic records state that Hymm Smith’s membership was trans¬
ferred into that lodge from Palmyra’s Mount Moriah Lodge (see Hogan
1971). Heber C. Kimball also mentioned that “Hymm Smith received the
first three degrees of masonry in Ontario County, New York” (Whitney
1945, 11). Because Palmyra became part of Wayne County in 1823,
Kimball’s statement may point to a pre-1823 initiation date for Hymm.

Presently, there is no reliable record for Hymm’s initiation and mem¬
bership in the Palmyra lodge. Indeed, no other Hiram Smith is listed in any
of the extant Mount Moriah Lodge returns between 1821, the earliest Hymm
could have joined (one had to be at least twenty-one), and 1827. Mervin
Hogan has suggested that Hymm joined in 1823, but gives no evidence for
this assertion (Hogan 1971, 8). Perhaps Hogan was led to this conclusion
because the records of the Palmyra lodge are missing for June 1820-June
1821 and December 1822-December 1823; if so, 1821 would be another
possibility. If Hymm was initiated during one of these gaps in the records,
his absence from the remaining records suggests that he failed to attend
meetings on a regular basis.

Records which perhaps contain the date of Hymm’s initiation may yet
be discovered. While at Rochester, New York, in 1932, M. Wilford Poulson
interviewed Sanford H. Van Alstine (1872-1933), a Palmyra historian who
had moved to Rochester about 1906, and Poulson recorded in his notebook
that Van Alstine “has a complete copy of the minutes of the Masonik lodge
at Palmyra from about 1804 to 1827” (M. Wilford Poulson Collection,
Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University,
Provo, Utah; see also T. Cook 1930, 110, 112). To date, I have been unable
to locate these records.

According to William H. McIntosh, “A lodge of Masons known as the
Mount Moriah Lodge, No. 112, was early instituted at Palmyra, and prospered
till the Morgan excitement, when their charter was surrendered to the Grand
Lodge” (McIntosh 1877, 143). In August 1827 Palmyra Baptists took
measures forbidding members to join any Masonic lodge (“Book of Records
for the first Baptist Church in Palmyra 1813,” 1813-28, Baptist Historical
Society, Rochester, New York). The record of the return for the year 1827
indicates that the Palmyra lodge was struggling financially, perhaps from the
gradual withdrawal of support, and could not pay its dues to the Grand Lodge:
“And we further State that our Dues have not been remitted, and in
consequence of the embarased situation of the Lodge we are not able to pay
them, and pray that the Grand Lodge might remit them.” However, that the
Mount Moriah Lodge continued to issue returns to the Grand Lodge,

453

^ (r

Ovs. ^VCnJUalL M'

^•(s-'SvVX i^L^lVCV^Ct/WfA- |/W

i ^£>>YSxlul^ (AA^ I

I AV-(vJL /Irtw^^

I iyWluW»A j/lrtMO-tm*^ (Hv6LCtM-

I ^?4^flLfc.4jXk J/irtvt (? 0^ ll/kuAt^
i (Uav^cL fV«-0^a

y^AVV/V^x- /^^V^ILAVvA/T

j rUicLL iw

( \ V^lSxa A^ OaajuJL

I )’'X(j8JlvAvy. |\Vv.

i }VvvU( iuwi- Jd-UnAA- .^-

J ib-oAi-tA- f^b^ZCtnr'

j fH<Mtu/v M ira-w^tw^ G

UfcAvx

j ^(J^<!ijJ-JX- ’{I'Ory-Ck.^
j HcLhJJiA O'^Mrwx^ CLA

I Ga-64-^ ytlrojLxuvix Ifh

j Ccxd^

I (^ 0-^1 £t^

i JX- ^ p ^

I c:/ lUuC^i^JKr*^ ^M-(W^>-<.rw
j {LVvV-A^

I iU4u. 1\IV21 C4LAA/X. ^

j li-uL^LX^ tX-AnMX^

U-TAAv^ M^ CCA/V^

Palmyra Masonic Record, 1827-28, p. 1. Courtesy Grand Lodge of Free and
Accepted Masons of the State of New York, Chancellor Livingston Library,

New York, NY.

I LfJLcAf —

AVot CCL'W'^
jL S-'V'O-vtA^

1^ ; . Qjy' (K.

|. ■ [VVV^‘\>v>fc^cv<' UJLu^£a-vm:U.a
i' /VtUiijLv Kv-vvU^/Ul-tx^

t (Wv

i . ; |\o-fi-cMAO>x (XAV-CLyx^u^

I f\ (VW^tL.. ^fe-o^U-iLjXw (

I ; ..^-.^-^xJLrw^

I : / 5)r>'YvIrW 'ferMXX^

1. JJ ^ /WxfiAjlJLxi- (F

fc-. ; ^

ii; ^ UAaxx^ (XaM-S-/*^ ilA^

V S^UI'1/VV_4X4 P'V^v-^iVVV^v’fc

' . % tuJft-X/V uXAsjLAw

|:. f^uoJJ^ hr

AKouvo-v^

^ (irtuvx. «^a,l

f\ . (\/^ GAt/V<VVv^ I\ajL^h>a I S

lix O-HJWCAA,

IiA (W^ i

ATcla^ |Xju-^<j^ I(^

flUAAriA |\/V'«J.iLcxJ-'vv'v

^UA^, iATi'tn^ QXrMM-trv*.

^V . - Av

Palmyra Masonic Record, 1827-28, p. 2. Showing a “Hiram Smith” as a
member who was charged 50 cents for quarterly dues. Courtesy Grand Lodge of
Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York, Chancellor Livingston

Library, New York, NY.

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

apparently without the same financial difBculty (1830-31), is an indication
of the lodge’s continuance or that it had surrendered its charter only briefly.

While the Morgan excitement directly affected Hyrum’s lodge, it
remains uncertain about Hyrum’s position on the matter. It is also unknown
how Hyrum might have responded to the anti-Masonic politics during the
U.S. presidential election of 1828, or how he may have personally interpreted
the Book of Mormon’s warning against “secret combinations” (Vogel 1989).
In December 1830 Joseph warned his brother to “beware of the freemasons,
[Alexander?] McIntyre heard that you were in Manchester and he got a
warrant and went to your father’s to distress the family but Harrison [Samuel
Harrison Smith] overheard their talk and they said that they cared not for
the debt, if they could obtain your body. They were there with carriages.
Therefore beware of the Freemasons” (LA. 5, JOSEPH SMITH TO
COLESVILLE SAINTS, 2 DEC 1830). In this regard, several names in the
Palmyra return of 1827-28 are of interest, particularly the Smiths’ physician,
Alexander McIntyre; Judge Thomas P. Baldwin, before whom many of
Hurlbut’s witnesses appeared; William T. Hussy and Azel Vandruver, the
men who claimed to be friends of Smith who tried to look at the plates (see
IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 31); Levi Daggett, who
sued Hyrum Smith in June 1830 and tried to have him arrested for an unpaid
debt (see IILL.19, NATHAN PIERCE DOCKET BOOK, 1830); and
Pomeroy Tucker.

Presently, there is no evidence for Masonic membership for anyone in
the Smith family besides Hyrum prior to the Nauvoo period. Some have
wondered if a “Joseph Smith” listed in the record of the Ontario Lodge, No.
23, which met in Canandaigua, was Joseph Smith, Sr. However, this is
unlikely since this record, which covers the year 1818, indicates that this
“Joseph Smith” was initiated on 26 December 1817 and that he lived in
Canandaigua (see Membership Record of Ontario Lodge, No. 23, 27
December 1817-27 December 1818, Library and Museum of the Grand
Lodge of the State of New York, New York, New York),^ while Joseph Sr.
lived in Palmyra Village at this time and would have more likely attended
the Palmyra lodge.

[See accompanying two-page photographic reproduction.]

2. Although the 1820 census does not hst a Joseph Smith living in Ca¬
nandaigua, it does list nine other Joseph Smiths in Ontario County. Evidently
the Joseph Smith living in Canandaigua in 1818 moved before the 1820 enu¬
meration and is perhaps one of these nine Joseph Smiths.

456

10.

Lemuel durfee Account books,

1827-1829

1. Lemuel Durfee Account Book, May 1813-July 1829 (entry of
16 April 1827), Ontario County Historical Society, Canandaigua,
New York.

2. Lemuel Durfee Account Book, 1 September 1817-10 July 1829
(entries of 31 May 1827, 26 June 1827, August 1827, 1 September
1827, 13 May 1828, 18 June 1828, 20 June 1828, 7 July 1828, 20
July 1828, 7 August 1828, June 1829), Palmyra’s King’s Daughters
Free Library, Palmyra, New York.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Lemuel Durfee (1759-1829), son of Gideon and Anne Durfee,
was born at Tiverton, Rhode Island. He was a Quaker with extensive
property holdings in Palmyra and Manchester, New York. He had ar¬
rived at Palmyra sometime before 23 April 1808, when he signed an
indenture for land (original in Palmyra King’s Daughters Free Library,
Palmyra, New York). When a Mr. Stoddard sought to take the
Smiths’ land from them, they solicited the aid of Lemuel Durfee, who
purchased the farm on 20 December 1825 and allowed the Smiths to
remain as “renters” (LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:56-
58; III.L.4, SMITH MANCHESTER [NY] LAND RECORDS,
1820-1830). Durfee died on 8 August 1829 at Palmyra {Wayne Senti¬
nel, 14 August 1829; Reed 1902, 1:318; “Record of the Family of
Job Durfee,” Palmyra Courier, c. 1883, undated newspaper clipping in
Wilcox Scrapbook, Palmyra King’s Daughters Free Library, Palmyra,
New York). Below are entries from Durfee’s account books that per¬
tain to the Smiths.

[1. Account Book, 1813-1829]

[16 April 1827]

April the 16 day the year 1827 S[amuel]. Harrison Smith Son of Joseph Smith
began to Work for me by the Month, is to Work 7 Months for the use of

457

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

the place Where Said Joseph Smith Lives^

[2. Account Book, 1817-1829]

[A. 31 May 1827]

Joseph [Sr./Jr.?]^ and Hiram Smith Dr. [debit] to three barrels of Cider at 9
[shillings] per barrel May the Last 1827 [p. 41]

[B. 26 June 1827]

June the 26 day Joseph Smith [Sr./Jr.?] Dr [debit] to Veal hind Quarter 23
pound <$0.69> also one fore Quarter Wt. [weight] 22 pounds $.55 .55

[p. 42]

[C. August 1827]

august Credit byjoseph Smith [Sr.] by Mo[w]ing three days & Joseph Smith,
Ju Jnr. two days Mowing & Hiram Smith one day Mowing even [p. 42]

[D. 1 September 1827]

Sept, first to two barrels of Cider racked o£[f| to Joseph [Sr./Jr.?] & Hiram
Smith at 9 [shillings] / per barrel $2.25 [p. 42]

[E. 13 May 1828]

May the 13th Joseph [Sr.]^ & Harrison Smith Dr [debit] to three barrels of
Cider the Liqure at $3.38 [p. 43]

[F. 18 June 1828]

June the 18 day the year 1828 Credit By Hiram & Har[r]ison Smiths a hoeing

1 . Lucy Smith commented that when Durfee purchased their farm on
20 December 1825, “Mr Durfy gave us the priviledge of the place [for] one
year with this provision that samuel our 4th son was to labor for him 6
months. ... These things were all settled upon and The conc=lusion was that
if after we had kept the place in this way one year we still chose to remain
we could have the priviledge” (LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845,
MS:57-58). Since there is a lapse of more than a year, it is likely that this en¬
try in Durfee’s account book represents a similar arrangement worked out
with the Smiths at the end of the first year.

2. Since Joseph Jr. was in Manchester from January to December
1827, except for a brief trip to Harmony, Pennsylvania, it is uncertain if this
refers to Joseph Sr. or Joseph Jr. This is also true for the entries of 31 May, 26
June, and 1 September 1827.

3. Since Joseph Jr. moved to Harmony, Pennsylvania, in December
1827, this refers to Joseph Sr. This is also true for entries of 20 June, 7 July,

20 July 1828, and June 1829.

458

LEMUEL DURFEE ACCOUNT BOOKS, 1827-1829
one Day a piece [p. 44]

[G. 20 June 1828]

June the 20 day Joseph [Sr.j & Harrison Smiths Dr. [debit] to the Liqure of
three barrels of Cider at 9/0 [shillings] per barrel $3.38 [p. 44]

[H. 7 July 1828]

July 7 day Credit by J[oseph]. Smith [Sr.] & Rockwell"^ by hoeing three days
[p. 44]

[/. 20 July 1828]

July 20 Jos. Smith [Sr.] & Harrison Cr. [credit] by Work binding Wheat[.]
one day of william and three days of Harrison Work [p. 44]

[/. 7 August 1828]

august 7 Credit <by> Rockwell to two days Mowing for me by Harrison
Smith by three days a Mowing for me [p. 44]

[K.June i829f

Smith [Sr.] & Rockwell Dr. [debit] to the Liqure of two barrels of Cider
$2.50 [p. 46]

4. It is uncertain whether this refers to Orin Rockwell (1784-?) or to
his son Orrin Porter Rockwell (1813-29). Probably the senior Rockwell
since, according to his daughter Caroline Rockwell, Orrin Porter “[w]hen
ten years old he broke his leg and a young doctor in Palmyra set it so one leg
was shorter than the other and it always troubled him so he could not work
at farming ’ (IILD.5, CAROLINE ROCKWELL SMITH STATEMENT,
25 MAR 1885). This is also true for entries of 7 August 1828 and June 1829.

5. Entries before and after this entry indicate that it was recorded be¬
tween 4 and 17 June 1829.

459

11.

JOSEPH SMITH RECEIPT TO ABRAHAM FISH
ACCOUNT, 10 MARCH 1827

Joseph Smith, Receipt to Abraham Fish Account, 10 March 1827, Joseph
Smith Papers, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Abraham Fish (c. 1773-1845)^ was a neighbor of the Smiths who,
according to Pomeroy Tucker, believed in Joseph Smith’s treasure seeing
abilities (III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 39). On 10
March 1827, six months before obtaining the plates and his separation from
the money digging company, Joseph Smith, Jr., paid four dollars to Abraham
Fish’s account at Joel and Levi Thayre’s store in Palmyra.^ The Thayres were
twin brothers who among other things ran a grocery store on Main Street,
advertisements of which appeared frequently in the Wayne Sentinel. Accord¬
ing to Thomas L. Cook, the Thayre brothers had “an extensive business.
They bought produce, dealt heavily in the purchase of cattle and were of
material benefit to the village” (T. Cook 1930, 76). Besides the present note,
Abraham Fish had other financial connections with the Smiths (see III. L. 19,
NATHAN PIERCE DOCKET BOOK, 1830; and IILL4, NATHANIEL
W. HOWELL AND OTHERS TO ANCIL BEACH, JAN 1832, 1-2).

Palmyra 10th March 1827

Rec[eive]d of Joseph Smith Jr Four dollars which is credited to the account
of A[braham]. Fish

J & L Thayer
[for?] C E Thayer

1. On Abraham Fish (c. 1773-1845), see IILL4, NATHANIEL W.
HOWELL AND OTHERS TO ANCIL BEACH, JAN 1832, n. 3.

2. On Levi and Joel Thayre, see III.A.ll, PALMYILA RESIDENTS
GROUP STATEMENT, 4 DEC 1833, nn. 9 and 42.

460

12.

BOOK OF MORMON COPYRIGHT,
11 JUNE 1829

Book of Mormon Copyright, 1 1 June 1829, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake
City, Utah.

EDITORIAL NOTE

On 11 June 1829, Joseph Smith obtained a copyright for the Book of
Mormon. The original copyright is found in the LDS Church Archives, Salt
Lake City, Utah (photographically reproduced in Church History in the Fulness
of Times, 1989, 62). A second nearly identical copy of the Book of Mormon’s
copyright is found in the Library of Congress (Copyright Records, vol. 116
[September 1826-May 1831], entry 107, Library of Congress, Washington,
D.C.; photographically reproduced in Ensign 13 [December 1983]: 40). A
third copy of the copyright is found on the first page of the printer’s
manuscript in the handwriting of OHver Cowdery (RLDS Church Archives,
Independence, Missouri).

The Book of Mormon’s copyright was obtained from the “Office” of
Richard R. Lansing of Utica, New York. Richard Ray Lansing (1789-1855)
settled in Utica about 1810. He became the law partner of Judge Morris S.
Miller in 1815, and shortly after was appointed Clerk of the District Court
of the United States for the Northern District of New York. An 1817 city
directory for Utica lists Lansing as follows: “Lansing, Richard R., Attorney
& Counsellor at Law; dwelling, Broadway; office, 2 Catherine St.” {Reprint
of the First Utica Directory, For the Year 1817, 1920, 10). Lansing apparently
lived at Utica until late 1829, but moved to New York City before the taking
of the 1830 census. In New York City, he was a partner in the wine and
liquor business of “Lansing, Munroe & Kang.” When the business burned to
the ground in the great fire of 1835, Lansing moved to Michigan and,
although Lansing was named after him, he lived mostly in Detroit, where he
died (Bagg 1877, 332-34).

The particulars of Smith’s obtaining the copyright are vague. Perhaps
Smith filed the copyright in person shortly after his return to Fayette from
Palmyra where he had just concluded his negotiations with Egbert B.
Grandin to print the Book of Mormon. Smith’s History perhaps too closely
associates his Palmyra negotiations with obtaining a copyright: “Mean time

461

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

our translation drawing to a close, we went to Palmyra, Wayne County,
N.Y: Secured the Copyright; and agreed with Mr Egbert Grandin to print
five thousand Copies for the sum of three thousand dollars.” The draft,
however, reverses the order and separates the events: “Mean time our
translation drawing to a close, we went to Palmyra, and agreed there <with
Mr> Egbert Grandin to print and publish five thousand <copies> for three
thousand Dollars, and about this time secured the copy right” (LA. 15,
JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 34, DICAFT:9).

The copyright is a printed form (represented in this transcription in
bold type), which was completed by hand, presumably by Lansing.

Northern District of

New York

To Wit:

Be it remembered. That on the
eleventh day of June in the fifty third year
of the Independence of the United
States of America, A.D. 1829 Joseph
Smith Junior of the said District, hath
deposited in this Office the title of a
book the right whereof he claims as
author in the words following, to wit:

The Book of Mormon; an account written by the hand of Mormon
upon plates taken from the plates of Nephi. Wherefore it is an abridgement
of the record of the people of Nephi; and also of the Lamanites, written to
the Lamanites, which are a remnant of the House of Israel; and also to Jew
& Gentile, written by way of commandment; and also by the spirit of
prophesy & revelation, written Sc sealed Sc hid up unto the Lord that they
might not be destroyed, to come forth by the gift Sc power of God unto the
interpretation thereof, sealed up by the hand of Moroni Sc hid up unto the
Lord, to come forth in due time by the way of Gentile, the interpretation
thereof by the gift of God; an abridgement taken from the book of Ether,
also, which is a record of the people of Jared, which were scattered at the
time the Lord confounded the language of the people, when they were
building a tower to get to Heaven; which is to shew unto the [remnant] of
the House of Israel how great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; Sc
that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off
forever; and also to the convincing of the Jew & Gentile that Jesus is the

462

BOOK OF MORMON COPYRIGHT, 11 JUNE 1829

Christ, the eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations. And now if
there be a fault, it be the mistake of men; wherefore con=demn not the
things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment seat of christ.^
By Joseph Smith Junior, author & proprietor.^

In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States,
entitled “An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the
copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors
of such copies, during the times therein mentioned;” and also, to
the act entitled “An act supplement=ary to an act entitled ‘An act
for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps,
Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies
during the times therein mentioned,’ and extending the benefits
there=of to the arts of Designing, Engraving and Etching historical
and other prints.”

R. R. Lansing[,] Clerk of
the United States Dist[rict]. Court for the
Northern Dist[rict]. of New York

1. For Smith’s explanation for the source of the Book of Mormon’s ti¬
tle page, see I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 34.

2. Much has been made of the first edition’s use of “author and pro¬
prietor,” but the wording obviously reflects the language of the copyright
rather than a supposed oversight by Joseph Smith.

463

13.

TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES,
JUNE 1829

“Testimony of Eight Witnesses,” June 1829, Printer’s Manuscript of the
Book of Mormon, 464, Restoration Scriptures, RLDS Church Library- Ar¬
chives, Independence, Missouri.

EDITORIAL NOTE

The printer’s manuscript of the Book of Mormon, prepared by OHver
Cowdery and others between July 1829 and about February 1830, includes
the earliest known copy of the Testimony of Eight Witnesses; the original
apparently has not survived. The Testimony, including the names of the
witnesses, is in Oliver Cowdery’s handwriting.

As a historical document, the Testimony of Eight Witnesses is disap¬
pointing. It fails to give historical details such as time, place, and date. Neither
does it describe the historical event or events, but simply states that the eight
signatories, collectively, have seen and handled the plates. Joseph Smith’s
History is vague about events behind the Testimony of Eight Witnesses,
dating the vision of the three witnesses to June 1829, with the experience of
the eight witnesses occurring “soon after” (I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1839, 24, 26). David Whitmer was more precise, stating that the
three witnesses saw the plates in the “latter part” of June 1829 and the eight
witnesses one or two days later (VI.A.7, DAVID WHITMER INTER¬
VIEW WITH ORSON PRATT AND JOSEPH F. SMITH, 7-8 SEP
1878). Lucy Smith, whose husband and two sons were among the Eight
Witnesses, said the event occurred in Manchester, New York, a “few days”
after the experience of the Three Witnesses in Fayette, on a Thursday (LB. 5,
LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:102). Combining the observations
of Whitmer and Lucy Smith, the last Thursday of June, 25 June 1829,
emerges as a possible date for the experience of the eight witnesses, although
2 July should not be ruled out.

Nor does Smith’s History describe the historical setting in which the
eight men saw the plates. Lucy Smith said a “few days” after the experience
of the three witnesses in Fayette, New York, Joseph Jr., Oliver Cowdery,
Hiram Page, and the Whitmers arrived at Palmyra in order to arrange for
the printing of the Book of Mormon. It was during this visit, according to

464

TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES, 1829

Lucy, that the “male part of the company repaired to a httle grove where it
was custom=ary for the family to offer up their secret prayers,” and there
saw the plates (LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:102). Lucy
further stated that “Joseph had been instructed that the plates would be
carried” to the grove “by one of the ancient Nephites,” and that “after the
witnesses returned to the house the Angel again made his appearance to
Joseph and received the plates from his hands” (LB.5, LUCY SMITH
HISTORY, 1845, MS:102, 104). While Lucy’s account provides details
otherwise unavailable,^ she did not describe the actual viewing of the plates.

Details of what transpired in the Smith grove are unknown, and the
nature of the experience of the eight witnesses is a matter of controversy.
Unlike the Testimony of Three Witnesses (VI.G.l, TESTIMONY OF
THILEE WITNESSES, JUN 1829), subsequent statements by the eight
witnesses shed very little light on the historical event behind their Testimony.
Individual statements by the eight witnesses are rare due to largely to their
early deaths. Below is a compilation of their individual testimonies arranged
according to the order of their deaths:^

1. John Whitmer, one of the eight witnesses, reportedly gave an ac¬
count that significantly differs from Lucy Smith’s version. According to P.
Wilhelm Poulson, Whitmer said in an 1878 interview that the witnesses saw
the plates “in Joseph Smith’s house. ... At that time Joseph showed the plates
to us, we were four persons, present in the room, and at another time he
showed them to four persons more” (VLB. 7, JOHN WHITMER INTER¬
VIEW WITH P. WILHELM POULSON, APR 1878). Poulson’s version of
the interview, however, is perhaps suspect since John Whitmer was dead at
the time of publication and David Whitmer complained about the accuracy
of Poulson’s interview with him (see introduction to VI.A.6, DAVID WHIT¬
MER INTERVIEW WITH P. WILHELM POULSON, CIRCA APR
1878).

2. In addition to the individual statements presented here, the eight
witnesses sometimes bore public testimony as a group. On the evening fol¬
lowing the experience of the eight witnesses, Lucy Smith reported, “all the
witnesses bore testimony to the facts” as later stated in their printed testimony
(LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, 1853:141; MS:104). Luke Johnson
reported that at a church conference in Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, on
25 October 1831, “the eleven witnesses to the Book of Mormon, with up¬
lifted hands, bore their solemn testimony to the truth of that book, as did also
the Prophet Joseph” {Deseret News, 26 May 1858; rept. Millennial Star, 17 De¬
cember 1864, 835). Unfortunately those who reported hearing the eight men
testify neglected to give details.

465

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

1. Christian Whitmer (1798-1835).

No known statements.

2. Peter Whitmer, Jr. (1809-36).

No known statements.

3. Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771-1840).

No known statements.^

4. Hyrum Smith (1800-44).

Apparently against the claim that the eight witnesses only saw the plates
with their “spiritual eyes” (see IILF.7, STEPHEN BURNETT TO LY¬
MAN E. JOHNSON, 15 APR 1838), Hyrum reportedly said during a visit
to Sunbury, Ohio, in 1838:

he had but too [two] hands and too [two] eyes[.] he said he had seene the
plates with his eyes and handeled them with his hands and he saw a brest plate
and he told how it wass maid[.] it wass fixed for the brest of a man with a holer
[hoUow or concave] stomak and too [two] pieces upon eatch side with a hole
throu them to put in a string to tye <it> on but that wass not so good gold as
the plates for that was pure[.] why i write this is because thay dis=put[e] [the]
Book so much (Sally Parker to John Kempton, 26 August 1838, microfilm,
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah; a portion cited in R. L. Ander¬
son 1981, 159).

In December 1839, Hyrum evidently referred to his testimony when
he said “I felt a determination to die, rather than deny the things which my
eyes had seen, which my hands had handled, and which I had borne
testimony to” {Times and Seasons 1 [December 1839]: 23). Joseph Fielding,
Hyrum’s brother-in-law by his second marriage, said in 1841: “My sister
[Mary Fielding Smith] bears testimony that her husband has seen and handled
the plates, &c.” Joseph Fielding to Parley P. Pratt, 20 June 1841, in Millennial
Star 2 [1841]: 52). Recalling a sermon Hyrum delivered in 1844, Angus
Cannon said: “When I was but ten years of age, I heard the testimony of the
Patriarch Hyrum Smith ... to the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the

3. William Stafford claimed that the “elder Joseph would say that he
had seen the plates and that he knew them to be gold; at other times he
would say that they looked like gold; and other times he would say he had
not seen the plates at all” (III. A. 13, WILLIAM STAFFORD STATEMENT,
8 DEC 1833, 240). But it is uncertain if this statement has direct bearing on
Joseph Sr.’s testimony, or if his alleged denial of having seen the plates was
given before or after his experience as one of the eight witnesses.

466

TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES, 1829

appearance of the plates from which it was translated” (Salt Lake Stake
Historical Record, 25 January 1888, cited in R. L. Anderson 1981, 146).

5. Samuel Harrison Smith (1808-44).

In a late reminiscence, Daniel Tyler reported that in the spring of 1832
Samuel Smith said “he knew his brother Joseph had the plates, for the prophet
had shown them to him, and he had handled them and seen the engravings
thereon” (Tyler 1883, 23).

6. Hiram Page (1800-52).

In an 1847 statement. Page rejected the idea that he “could know a
thing to be true in 1830, and know the same thing to be false in 1847.” He
also denied that his mind had become “so treacherous that I had forgotten
what I saw” (VI.C.l, HIRAM PAGE TO WILLIAM MCLELLIN, 30 MAY
1847). One of Page’s sons told Andrew Jenson in 1888: “I knew my father
to be true and faithful to his testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon
until the very last. Whenever he had an opportunity to bear his testimony
to this effect, he would always do so, and seemed to rejoice exceedingly in
having been privileged to see the plates” {Historical Record 7 [1888]: 614).
Philander Page, son of Hiram Page, told George Edward Anderson in 1907
that his father “Never faltered in his testimony about the plates and the
characters. Often related to Philander what they had seen and passed
through” (Diary, 29, Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum, Salt Lake City,
Utah, cited in Holzapfel, Cottle, and Stoddard 1995, 70). John C. Whitmer,
son of Jacob Whitmer, said in 1888: “I knew [Hiram Page] at all times and
under all circumstances to be true to his testimony concerning the divinity
of the Book of Mormon” {Deseret News, 17 September 1888, 2; rept. Saints^
Herald 35 [13 October 1888]: 651).

7. Jacob Whitmer (1800-56).

Andrew Jenson, Edward Stevenson, and Joseph S. Black quoted John
C. Whitmer, son of Jacob Whitmer, as stating: “My father, Jacob Whitmer,
was always faithful and true to his testimony to the Book of Mormon, and
confirmed it on his deathbed” {Deseret News, 17 September 1888, 2; rept.
Saints' Herald 35 [13 October 1888]: 651).

8. John Whitmer (1802-87).

Of the eight witnesses, John Whitmer lived the longest and left the
most on record. In 1836 Whitmer said that he had “no hesitancy” about his
testimony in the Book of Mormon “but with confidence have signed my
name to it. ... I have most assuredly seen the plates from whence the book
of Mormon is translated, and that I have handled these plates” (VLB. 2,

467

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

JOHN WHITMER TESTIMONY, 1836). Whitmer reportedly said to
Theodore Turley in April 1839: “I handled those plates; there was fine
engravings on both sides. I handled them. ... [T]hey were shown to me by
a supernatural power” (VLB.3, JOHN WHITMER TESTIMONY, 1839).
According to E. C. Brand of the REDS church, in 1875 Whitmer “declared
that his testimony, as found in ... the Book of Mormon, is strictly true” (see
“John Whitmer Addendum”). On 5 March 1876, Whitmer wrote Mark H.
Forscutt of the RLDS church: “I have never heard that any one of the three,
or eight witnesses ever denied the testimony that they have borne to the
Book [of Mormon]” (VI.B.4, JOHN WHITMER TO MARK H.
FORSCUTT, 5 MAR 1876). On 11 December 1876, Whitmer wrote to
Heman C. Smith of the RLDS church concerning his testimony in the Book
of Mormon: ''That testimony was, is, and will he true, henceforth and forever’
(VI.B.5, JOHN WHITMER TO HEMAN C. SMITH, 11 DEC 1876).
Whitmer told Myron Bond in 1878 that he “saw and handled” the plates
{Saints’ Herald 25 [1878]: 253). In a not too reliable interview of April 1878,
P. Wilhelm Poulson said Whitmer affirmed his testimony, stating that he
handled the plates, that they were handed over “uncovered into our hands,
and we turned the leaves sufficient to satisfy us,” and that they were “as
material as anything can be” and “very heavy” (VLB. 7, JOHN WHITMER
INTERVIEW WITH P. WILHELM POULSON, APR 1878; see note 1
above).

As can be seen, except for Poulson’s late interview with John Whitmer,
specific declarations by the witnesses about handling the plates are few and
vague. Published twenty days after John Whitmer’s death, Poulson’s version
of the interview is questionable, not only because it conflicts with Turley’s
1839 report that Whitmer claimed to have seen and handled the plates “by
a supernatural power,” but because of the historical setting in which Poulson
places the event, in the Smiths’ Manchester cabin with Smith showing the
plates in two shifts of four witnesses (see note 1 above) . A similar situation
subsequently occurred when Poulson published his interview with David
Whitmer in August 1878 (see VI.A.6, DAVID WHITMER INTERVIEW
WITH P. WILHELM POULSON, CIRCA APR 1878). In a letter to S.
T. Mouch, dated 18 November 1882, David Whitmer accused Poulson of
inventing dialogue (see introduction to ibid.). Among the possible statements
Whitmer found objectionable are: that all three witnesses were together at
the time of their vision of the angel and the plates; and that Whitmer had
seen the stone box from which the plates were taken (see Vogel 1995). One
can easily detect from this brief examination that Poulson’s errors are not

468

TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES, 1829

random but consistently result from his attempt to strengthen the testimony
of the witnesses.

Poulson’s interview aside, there remains no reliable description of the
manner in which the eight witnesses saw and handled the plates. Neverthe¬
less, despite the naturalistic tone of the published Testimony of Eight
Witnesses, there is reason to believe that their experience was at least partly
visionary.

Stephen Burnett, who rejected the Book of Mormon based partly on
statements Martin Harris made in a public meeting in Kirtland, Ohio,
reported in April 1838 that Harris had announced that he “never saw the
plates with his natural eyes,” and that “the eight witnesses never saw them
[plates] & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded
to do it” (see III.F.7, STEPHEN BURNETT TO LYMAN E. JOHNSON,
25 APR 1838). It is unlikely that either man meant to say that the eight
witnesses never saw the plates or that their written Testimony was a
fabrication. Harris was apparently simply claiming that the Testimony of
Eight Witnesses misrepresented the actual experience of the eight men,
whom he knew well. It was for this reason, according to Harris, that they
“hesitated to sign” the written Testimony.

Warren Parrish’s reporting of Harris’s statement tends to support this
interpretation. Parrish, also a Kirtland dissenter, reported in August 1838 that
“Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and
says he never saw the plates, from which the book [of Mormon] purports to
have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who
says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph [Smith] not excepted”
{Evangelist [Carthage, Ohio] 6 [1 October 1838]: 226). Parrish then referred
to a revelation dictated by Joseph Smith in June 1829, which promised the
three hopeful witnesses a view of the plates, on condition of faith, and in¬
cluded the instruction that “ye shall testify that you have seen them, even as
my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., has seen them; for it is by my power that he
has seen them, and it is because he had faith” (D&C 17:5). Thus, rather than
report that Harris claimed the eight witnesses never saw the plates, Parrish
said that Harris denied that anyone had seen the plates except in vision.

Although Harris had rejected Joseph Smith’s leadership, he continued
to believe in the Book of Mormon and had little desire to impart any
information that could damage the book. According to Burnett, Harris later
remarked that “he never should have told that the testimony of the eight
[witnesses] was false, if it had not been picked out of [h]im but should have
let it passed as it was.” Regardless, Harris’s statements provided justification
for some dissenters to reject the Book of Mormon.

469

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

Hyrum Smith’s apparent response to the Kirtland dissenters, as reported
by Sally Parker in August 1838, is an indirect confirmation that the dissenters
were spiritualizing the experience of the eight witnesses. Parker wrote to
“comfort” her relatives in Maine who were evidently troubled about the
developments in Kirtland."^ She offered two evidences that the plates were
real. First, she heard Hyrum Smith, who had recently visited her central Ohio
town of Sunbury, declare that “he had but [two] hands and [two] eyes,” and
that “he had seene the plates with his eyes and handeled them with his hands.”
Next, she had lived near Lucy Smith and had heard her describe hiding the
plates under the hearth and claim to have “hefted and handled” the plates
while covered (Sally Parker to John Kempton, 26 August 1838, microfilm.
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah; cf. LB. 2, SALLY PARKER
TO JOHN KEMPTON, 26 AUG 1838).

Hyrum’s remark that “he had but ... [two] eyes” seems especially
designed to counter dissenter claims that the eight witnesses saw the plates
with their “spiritual eyes.” His statement is not unlike the response of David
Whitmer, who evidently became weary by questions about the nature of his
visionary experience. Nathan Tanner, who interviewed Whitmer in 1886,
reported that Whitmer said, “I have been asked if we saw those things with
our natural eyes. Of course they were our natural eyes. There is no doubt
that our eyes were prepared for the sight, but they were our natural eyes
nevertheless” (Nathan Tanner, Jr., to Nathan A. Tanner, 17 February 1909,
typed copy, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah). Thus Hyrum was
not necessarily denying dissenter claims that he and the other witnesses had
seen the plates in vision, only denouncing the implication that a vision was
inferior to a purely physical experience.

Similar events in Missouri presented another of the eight witnesses with
an opportunity to clarify his testimony. On 5 April 1839, Theodore Turley,
who was then the church’s business agent in Far West, publicly questioned
John Whitmer concerning his Book of Mormon testimony. Whitmer had
joined the dissenters in Missouri and, unlike Harris, not only rejected Joseph
Smith but also the Book of Mormon. Turley wanted to know how
Whitmer’s testimony about the plates could be true and yet the Book of
Mormon be false. Before his anti-Mormon friends, Whitmer reaffirmed his
testimony of the Book of Mormon, that he had both seen and handled the
plates, but concluded by stating that the plates had been “shown to me by a
supernatural power” (see above). Given his experience with the plates — even

4. Parker also states that she was responding to the dissenters because
“they disput[e] [the] Book [of Mormon] so much.”

470

TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES, 1829

if supernatural — Turley wondered how Whitmer could reject the Book of
Mormon. Whitmer responded that he could not read the original and
therefore he had no guarantee that Smith had translated it correctly.

If the visual experience of the eight witnesses was visionary, then their
handling of the plates was possibly a separate experience. Meaning that the
plates were present in a box or cloth covering and the eight witnesses saw
through the box or cloth; thus each man could claim that he had both seen
and handled the plates. This possibility is very much like what Harris
suggested was his experience with the plates prior to his June 1829 vision
with Smith. Harris told John A. Clark in 1828 that he saw the plates “with
the eye of faith ... just as distinctly as I see any thing around me, — though at
the time they were covered over with a cloth” (III.F.l, MARTIN HARRIS
INTERVIEWS WITH JOHN A. CLARK, 1827 & 1828, 2:99). He also
told Stephen Burnett and others in 1838 that “he had hefted the plates
repeatedly in a box [or] with only a tablecloth or a handkerchief over them,
but he never saw them only as he saw a city through a mountain” (III.F.7,
STEPHEN BURNETT TO LYMAN E. JOHNSON, 25 APR 1838).®

With such limited historical sources, the exact nature of the experience
of the eight witnesses may never be entirely known. However, the preceding
discussion is an indication that their experience was probably more complex
than their group statement implies. Indeed, the Testimony of Eight Witnesses
is a collective document, unifying what might have been varying and diverse
experiences of the eight men.

And also the testimony of eight witnesses
Be it known unto all Nations[,] kindreds[,] tongues & people unto
whom this work shall come that Joseph Smith Jun. the author & proprietor
of this work has shewn unto us the plate [s] of which hath been spoken which
have the appearance of gold & as many of the leaves as the said Smith has
translated we did handle with our hands 8c we also saw the engravings thereon
all of which has the appearance of ancient work Sc of curious workmanship
& this we bear record with words of soberness that the said Smith has got
the plates of which we have spoken & we give our names unto the world to
wit^ness unto the world that which we have seen Sc we lie not God bearing
witness of it

Christian Whitmer
Jacob Whitmer

5. See also IILK.18, THOMAS FORD ACCOUNT, 1854.

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

Peter Whitmer Jun.
John Whitmer
Hiram Page
Joseph Smith sen.
Hyrum Smith
Samuel H Smith

472

14.

MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE,

25 August 1829

Martin Harris, Mortgage to Egbert B. Grandin, 25 August 1829, Mortgages,
Liber 3, 325, Wayne County Clerk’s Oflfice, Lyons, New York.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Martin Harris (1783-1875)^ settled in Palmyra in 1792, eventually
owning about 320 acres of land (Jessee 1989, 489-90; L. Cook 1981, 9;
Gunnell 1955; 38-39; James 1983, 163 n. 264). In early June 1829 he
accompanied Joseph Smith to Egbert B. Grandin’s printing establishment in
Palmyra to discuss the possibility of publishing the Book of Mormon.
Grandin decUned. In a few days Harris returned to Grandin’s office informing
him of the possibility of printing the book in Rochester. When Harris offered
his farm as collateral, Grandin finally agreed to print 5,000 books for $3,000
(IILH.8, JOHN H. GILBERT STATEMENT, 23 OCT 1887; III.H.IO,
JOHN H. GILBERT MEMOILANDUM, 8 SEP 1892). On 25 August
1829, Harris mortgaged about 151 acres of land to Grandin for $3,000. The
mortgage stipulated that Harris was to pay “the sum of three thousand dollars
at or before the expiration of eighteen months from the date thereof ” — that
is, by 25 February 1831 — or Grandin would be at liberty to sell the property.
Printing of the Book of Mormon commenced in late August 1829, and on
26 March 1830 the Wayne Sentinel announced that books were for sale in
the Palmyra Book Store (III.E.l, WAYNE SENTINEL, 1824-1836, under
26 March 1830).

The Book of Mormon, however, did not sell as well as anticipated, and
it quickly became apparent that Harris would have to sell his land. In late
March 1830, as the first books were coming from the binder, Harris
complained to Smith that “The Books will not sell for no Body wants them.”
According to Joseph Knight, Harris resisted the idea that he should at that
time sell his land and demanded a “commandment” from Smith (IV.A.l,
JOSEPH KNIGHT, SR., REMINISCENCE, CIRCA 1835-1847, 6-7).
The next day Smith dictated a revelation which declared, “I command thee

1. On Martin Harris (1783-1875), see “Introduction to Martin Harris
Collection.”

473

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

[Hams] that thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart it freely to
the printing of the Book of Mormon” (D&C 19:26). David Whitmer said
that Harris’s attitude about selling his farm led Hymm Smith to suggest the
possibility of selling the Book of Mormon’s copyright in Canada in order to
pay off the mortgage and free themselves from any obligation to Harris (see
VLA.33, DAVID WHITMER, ADDRESS, 1887, 31). Harris is also known
to have approached Charles Butler, agent for the New York Life Insurance
and Trust Company in Geneva, for a second mortgage. The timing of
Harris’s visit is not clear, but it may have been shortly after Smith’s March
1830 revelation (see introduction to IILF.3, MARTIN HARRIS INTER¬
VIEW WITH CHARLES BUTLER, CIRCA 1830-1831).

Finally, on 1 April 1831, Martin Harris agreed to sell about 151 acres
of his farm to Thomas Lakey, an early settler and extensive property holder
in Palmyra who ran a wagon and sleigh business (T. Cook 1930, 21, 37), for
$3,000. Grandin may have allowed Harris a grace period before sale of the
farm since the printing of the Book of Mormon took longer than anticipated
(III.G.2, OLIVER COWDERY TO JOSEPH SMITH, 6 NOV 1829, 8).
The terms of the purchase agreement, dated 1 April 1831, were as follows:

Articles of agreement made and concluded this first day of April, in
the year 1831, between Martin Harris of the first part, and Thomas Lakey
of the second part, both of Palmyra in the County of Wayne, and the State
of New York, in the manner and form following:

The said Martin Harris, for the consideration hereinafter mentioned,
agrees to sell to the said Thomas Lakey the farm on which he now resides,
containing by estimation, one hundred and fifty acres, for the sum of
twenty dollars for each acre, and, forthwith to obtain a correct survey of
said premises, and give a good warranty deed of same, and give immediate
possession of everything. Always excepting and reserving the privilege of
living in the house till the first of May next. The said Thomas Lakey is to
have all the wheat on the ground except the acres sown by Mr. [Flanders]
Dyke, and the one-half of the said ten acres shall belong to the said Thomas
Lakey after the said Dyke shall harvest the same and shock it up in the field.

In consideration whereof, the said Thomas Lakey agrees to pay to the
said Martin Harris, one third of the purchase money on the first day of next
May, and one third in the month of October next, and the remaining one
third in the month of October in the year eighteen hundred and thirty-
two. In consideration whereof the parties bind themselves in the penal sum
of five hundred dollars, being damages assessed and agreed upon by the par¬
ties. In witness whereof, the parties have hereunto interchangeably set their
hands and seals, the day and year first above written.

474

MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 1829

(Signed) MARTIN HARRIS, L.S.

THOMAS LAKEY, L.S.^

On 7 April 1831, six days after signing the agreement, Harris deeded
the land to Lakey (deed reproduced in Gunnell 1955, 99-100). Pomeroy
Tucker said that “the farm mortgaged was sold by Harris in 1831 at private
sale, not by foreclosure, and a sufficiency of the avails went to pay Grandin —
though it is presumed Harris might have paid the $3,000 without the sale of
the farm” (IILJ.8, POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 54-55).
Tucker’s presumption about Harris’s financial situation, however, is likely
mistaken.

The terms of Harris’s 1 April 1831 agreement with Lakey indicate that
Grandin would not receive full payment for another eighteen months
(October 1832). However, James Reeves claimed Harris was paid by Lakey
three weeks later, evidently just before Harris departed for Ohio (III. F. 19,
JAMES H. PffiEVES ACCOUNT, 1872). The agreement also stipulated
that Harris vacate his residence on 1 May 1831. The Wayne Sentinel reported
on 27 May 1831 that Martin Harris and several other families “took up their
line of march from this town [Palmyra] last week for the ‘promised land.’”
According to Thomas L. Cook, Lakey later sold the farm to John Graves, an
English emigrant who paid $3,000 in gold (T. Cook 1930, 205).^

This Indenture, Made the twenty fifth day of August in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty nine between Martin Harris
of the town of Palmyra in the county of Wayne & State of New York, of
the first part, and Egbert B. Grandin of the same place of the second part

2. As published in Gunnell 1955, 38-39; also in Wayne County Journal,

28 May 1874. Gunnell reports: “A copy of the terms of agreement was origi¬
nally obtained from Carl Lakey, son of Thomas Lakey. Willard Bean sent this
and other data to William Pilkington, Jr. sometime after July twenty-fourth
in the year 1935” (Gunnell 1955, 39). A copy of the Harris/Lakey agreement
is in Wayne County Book of Deeds, Liber 10, 515-16, Wayne County
Clerk’s Office, Lyons, New York (Gunnell 1955, 99-100). “L.S.” apparently
represents “legal seal.”

3. Harris later sold the remaining portions of his land: Martin Harris to
Flanders Dike (Dyke) (son-in-law), 17 May 1837; Martin Harris to George
B. Harris (son), 1 November 1842; Martin Harris to Amos Adams (son-in-
law), 1 November 1842; and Martin Harris to Job Booth, 9 July 1859 (see
James 1983, 163 n. 266). Harris had also deeded eighty acres to his wife on

29 November 1825.

475

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

Witnesseth, that the said party of the first for and in consideration of the sum
of three thousand dollars to him in hand, paid by the said party of the second
part, the receipt whereof is hereby confessed and acknowledged; hath
granted, bargained, sold, remised, released; enfeoffed and confirmed; and by
these presents doth grant, bargain, sell, remise, release, enfeoff and confirm,
unto the said party of the second part; and to his heirs and assigns forever.
All that certain tract or parcel of land situate in the said town of Palmyra
aforesaid bounded on <the> south by lands belonging to Preservid Harris'^
on the east by Red Creek, on the north by lands belonging to Emer Harris^
& the high=way & on the west by the east line of the town of Macedon,
being the same tract of land or farm upon which the said Martin Harris now
resides. To have and to hold the above bargained premises to the said party
of the second part, his heirs, and assigns, to the sole and only proper use
benefit and behoof of the said part of the second part, his heirs and assigns
forever Provid<ed> always, and these presents are upon this express condi¬
tion that if the said Martin Harris his heirs execut[ors] or adminis=trators
shall pay or cause to be paid unto the said party of the second part his heirs
executors administrators or assigns the sum of three thousand dollars at or
before the expiration of eighteen months from the date hereof, then these
presents shall cease and be null and void but in case of the non-payment of
the said sum of Money, or any part thereof, at the time above limited for the
payment thereof, then and in such case it shall and may be lawful for the said
party of the second part, his heirs executors administrators or assigns and the
said party of the first part doth hereby empower and authorize the said party
of the second part his heirs executors, administrators or assigns to grant,
bargain, sell, release and convey the said premises, or any part or portion
thereof with the appurtenances at public auction or vendue and on such sale
to make and execute to the purchaser or purchasers his or their heirs and
assigns forever good ample or sufficient deed or deeds of conveyance in the
law pursuant to the statute in that case made and provided. Rendering the
surplus moneys (if any there should be) to the said party of the first part his
heirs, executors or administra=tors o^-assigns after deducting the costs and
charges of such vendue and sale aforesaid. In witness whereof the party of
the first part hath hereunto set his hand and seal the day and year first above
written. The nineteenth and a part of the twentieth and twentyfirst lines

4. On Preserved Harris (1785-1867), see LA.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 48.

5. On Emer Harris (1781-1869), see introduction to IILK.20, EMER
HARRIS ACCOUNT, 1856.

476

MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 1829

obliterated before ex=ecution.

Martin Harris, [seal]

Signed Sealed and delivered in
in presence of Fred’k Smith

State of New York[,] Wayne County SS.

On the 26th day of August 1829, per=sonaUy appeared before me
Frederick Smith a Judge of Wayne County the within grantor to me known
to be the person described in and who executed the within deed &
acknowledged that he executed the same as his voluntary act and deed for
the purposes therein contained.

Fred’k Smith. ^

6. On Frederick Smith, see III. A. 12, DAVID STAFFORD STATE¬
MENT, 5 DEC 1833, n. 7.

477

15.

JOSEPH Smith and Oliver Cowdery
Bible inscription,

8 October 1829

The Holy Bible (Cooperstown, New York: H. and E. Phinney Co., 1828).
Inscription on front flyleaf indicates ownership by Joseph Smith and Oliver
Cowdery, 8 October 1829, RLDS Church Library- Archives, Independence,
Missouri.

EDITORIAL NOTE

The inscribed Bible, a large pulpit-style edition containing the King
James Version of the Old and New Testaments as well as the Apocrypha and
printed at Cooperstown, New York, by H. and E. Phinney Company in
1828, was subsequently used by Joseph Smith in producing his Inspired
Version or New Translation of the Bible. The notation is written on the
front flyleaf in the large handwriting of Joseph Smith and occupies the top
quarter and lower eighth of the page. The Bible was purchased by Oliver
Cowdery on 8 October 1829 at E. B. Grandin’s bookstore on Palmyra’s
Main Street. Since Smith had left the area, arriving at Harmony, Pennsylva¬
nia, by 4 October 1829 (see I. A. 1, JOSEPH SMITH TO OLIVER COW¬
DERY, 22 OCT 1829), it follows that Cowdery purchased the Bible in
Smith’s absence and that Smith later penned the inscription.

The Book of the Jews And the property of
Joseph Smith Junior and Oliver Cowdery
Bought October the 8th 1829 at Egbert B Grandins
Book Store Palmyra[,] Wayne County[,] New York

Price $3.75
Holiness to the Lord

478

16.

BOOK OF MORMON PREFACE, 1829

Joseph Smith, “Preface” to the Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript,
Restoration Scriptures, RLDS Church Library-Archives, Independence,
Missouri.

EDITORIAL NOTE

The printer’s manuscript includes the earliest known copy of Joseph
Smith’s “Preface” to the first edition of the Book of Mormon. The wording
of Smith’s “Preface” largely draws on a revelation of May 1829 dealing with
the lost first portion of the translation manuscript (D&C 10; date as per Book
of Commandments). However, there are two items in the Preface which are
not taken from the revelation. First, Smith calls the lost manuscript “the Book
of Lehi ... an account abridged from the plates of Lehi, by the hand of
Mormon” (cf. 1 Ne. 10:15, where Nephi refers to his father’s book). Second,
this is the earliest source to mention the number of pages lost as 116.

Smith’s mention of the loss of 116 pages has possible implications for
the dating of the Preface as well as for the early progress of Cowdery’s work
on the printers manuscript. Where did Smith get this number? It is unlikely
that he could remember exactly how many pages were lost. Did he guess?
Or did he simply look at the original manuscript’s opening portion of the
book of Mosiah to find the next page number, assuming the previous
numbering system was preserved? Unfortunately, this portion of Mosiah has
not survived and subsequent portions from Alma, Helaman, and 3 Nephi are
not weU preserved. However, an interesting coincidence occurs in the
printer’s manuscript. In the printer’s manuscript, the first portion of the
present Book of Mormon (First Nephi through The Words of Mormon) —
the portion Smith dictated last to replace the lost manuscript — is half a
sentence more than 116 pages. It seems improbable, assuming the lost
manuscript was really 116 pages, that Cowdery’s copy of the original
manuscript would coincidentally faU on the same page.^ For whatever reason.

1. Royal Skousen has reported that the recently restored fragments of
the dictated or original manuscript from the Wilford Wood collection were
found to include two leaves from Jacob 6 through Enos 1 and that they are
numbered 111 through 114 (Skousen 1992, 22). Since the corresponding
pages from the printer’s manuscript are numbered 107 through 111, Oliver

479

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

Smith probably referred to the printer’s manuscript when writing his Preface
(see also Metcalfe 1993, 395 n. 1).

When did Joseph Smith write the Preface to the first edition of the
Book of Mormon? It was evidently written during his stay in Manchester,
New York, which lasted from late June to early October 1829. The Preface
must have been written before the printer began setting type in mid-August
since it was included in the first signature (see III.H.IO, JOHN H. GILBERT
MEMOILANDUM, 8 SEP 1892).

If the above analysis is correct, Cowdery must have at least reached
page 116 in his copying before Smith wrote his Preface. Cowdery probably
began copying the manuscript near the beginning of July 1829, since
arrangements had already been made to publish the Book of Mormon in
Palmyra, and had reached Alma 36 about 6 November 1829 (see IILG.2,
OLIVER COWDERY TO JOSEPH SMITH, 6 NOV 1829). Averaging
the number of pages per day, Cowdery would have copied the first 116 pages
by about the beginning of August. It therefore seems probable that the
Preface was written shortly before printing began in mid-August.

Two traditions have come down regarding the fate of the stolen pages.
The tradition among Lucy Harris’s relatives is that she burned them (Sillitoe
and Roberts 1988, 155; III.F.19, JAMES H. REEVES ACCOUNT, 1872).
E. D. Howe reported in 1834 that the Mormons “sometimes charged the
wife of Harris with having burnt it; but this is denied by her” (V.D.l, EBER
D. HOWE ACCOUNT, 1834, 22). Lucy Harris’s denial was probably
passed on to him by Philastus Hurlbut, who had interviewed her in
November 1833. Lorenzo Saunders, however, said Lucy Harris told him that
she had burned the manuscript (IILB.15, LORENZO SAUNDERS IN¬
TERVIEW, 12 NOV 1884, 4).

A second tradition claims that the manuscript has survived. This
tradition, although doubtful, was encouraged by Joseph Smith when he
explained in the Book of Mormon’s Preface that “some person or persons
have stolen & kept from me” 116 pages of original manuscript “notwith¬
standing my utmost exer=sion to recover it again.” At the time of writing
the Preface, Smith stiU seemed concerned about the existence of the stolen
manuscript and its possible comparison with the first portion of the published

Cowdery being able to condense the text in copying, it is unlikely that the
Words of Mormon in the original manuscript also concluded on page 116.
Five more pages were required for Cowdery to condense the original text for
the printer’s copy ofjarom to the Words of Mormon, which would have
brought the original manuscript to page 119 or 120.

480

BOOK OF MORMON PREFACE, 1829

Book of Mormon, so that Smith found it necessary to explain that he had
not retranslated the lost portion.

William R. Hine of Colesville, Broome County, New York, claimed
that Lucy Harris stole the manuscript and gave it to a “Dr. Seymour.” Hine
reported, “Dr. Seymour lived one and a half miles from me. He read most
of it to me when my daughter Rene was born, he read them to his patients
about the country. It was a description of the mounds about the country and
similar to the ‘Book of Mormon’” (IV.D.IO, WILLIAM R. HINE STATE¬
MENT, CIRCA MAR 1885). Hine might have had reference to Ezra
Seymour (b. 1784) of Colesville, who is listed in the 1850 census as a
physician.

Yet another claim for the manuscript’s survival comes from the Franklin
D. Richards family. Charles Comstock Richards, son of Apostle Franklin D.
Richards, accompanied his father and other family members on a genealogi¬
cal tour of New England in 1880. In 1947 Charles recalled that he and his
father visited Palmyra, New York, and “we called upon Dr. J. R. Pratt, M.D.
who told my father that he could put his hand on the manuscript which
Martin Harris lost, in an hour, if it was needed” (see C. Richards 1947, 2;
Bitton 1977, 290). This was probablyjohn R. Pratt (b. 1826) ofManchester,
who is listed in the 1880 and 1900 censuses as a physician (see also McIntosh
1876, 181).

At the time of the manuscript’s disappearance, Martin Harris believed
his wife had taken the manuscript and had given it to others (III.F.l,
MARTIN HARRIS INTERVIEW WITH JOHN A. CLARK, 1827 &
1828, 247-48). In later years Harris evidently came to believe that his wife
had burned the manuscript (III. F. 21, MARTIN HARRIS INTERVIEWS
WITH WILLIAM PILKINGTON, 1874-1875). This conclusion is prob¬
ably correct since Lucy Harris was less interested in exposing Smith than with
putting a stop to the production of the Book of Mormon as well as to her
husband’s financial involvement with the project.

PREFACE

To the Reader —

As many fals[e] reports have been sirculated respecting this <the
following> work & also many unla=wful measures taken by evil desineing
persons to destroy me & also the work I would inform you that I translated
by the gift & power of God & caused to be written one hundred & sixteen
pages the which I took from the Book of Lehi which was an acc=ount
abridged from the plates of Lehi by the hand of Mormon which said account
some person or persons have stolen & kept from me notwithstanding my

481

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

utmost exer=sion to recover it again & being commanded of the Lord that
I should not translate the same over again for Satan had put it into their hearts
to tempt the Lord their God by altering the words that they did read conterary
from that which I translated & caused to be written & if I should bring forth
the same words again or in other words if I should translate the same over
again they would publish that which they had stolen & Satan would stir up
the hearts of this generation that they might not receive this work but behold
the Lord said unto me I will not suffer that Satan shall accomplish his evil
design in this thing therefore thou shalt translate from the plates of Nephi
until you ye come to that which ye have translated which ye have retained
& behold ye shall publish it as the record of Nephi & thus I will confound
those who have altered my words I will not suffer that they shall destroy my
work yea I will shew unto them that my wisdom is greater then [than] the
cunning of the Devil wherefore to be obediant unto the commandments of
God I have through his grace Sc mercy accomplished that which he hath
commanded me respecting this thing I would also inform you that the plates
of which hath been spoken was <were> found in the township of Manches¬
ter [,] Ontario County [,] New-York[.]

The Author

482

17.

JOSEPH SMITH, Sr., and
MARTIN HARRIS AGREEMENT,
16 JANUARY 1830

Joseph Smith, Sr., and Martin Harris, Agreement Regarding Sale of Book
of Mormon, 16 January 1830, Simon Gratz Collection, Historical Society of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Orsamus Turner probably referred to this document when he remarked
that “the only business contract — ^veritable instrument in writing, that was
ever executed by spiritual agents, has been preserved, and should be among
the archives of the new state of Utah. It is signed by the Prophet Joseph
himself, and witnessed by Oliver Cowdery, and secures to Martin Harris one
half of the proceeds of the sale of the Gold Bible until he was fuUy reimbursed
in the sum of $2,500, the cost of printing” (III.J.2, ORSAMUS TURNER
ACCOUNT, 1851, 216). As to the parties and sum involved in the
agreement. Turner was mistaken since the original is signed by Joseph Smith,
Sr., not Jr., ^ and Harris owed Grandin $3,000, rather than $2,500 (III. L. 14,
MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829).

The agreement points to Joseph Sr.’s role in the Book of Mormon

1. I do not agree with Scott Faulring’s recent assertion that the signa¬
ture on the present Agreement is that of Joseph Smith, Jr. (Faulring 1995,

206, n. 2). The “S” in “Sr” is very clearly an “S,” not a “J” as Faulring reads.
Also, despite Faulring’s assertion, Joseph Sr. did sometimes include the desig¬
nations “Sen.” or “Sr.” with his name as the following documents attest: Arti¬
cles of Agreement, 1825 (V.E.l, ARTICLES OF AGILEEMENT, 1 NOV
1825); Testimony of Eight Witnesses, June 1829 (III. L. 13, TESTIMONY
OF EIGHT WITNESSES, JUNE 1829); several entries in the deed records
of Geauga County, Ohio, 1837-38, including land purchases and a power of
attorney (Deeds, 24:363-64, 25:150-51, 266-67, 322-23, 27:122, Geauga
County Courthouse, Chardon, Ohio); and William SwartzeU’s deacon’s li¬
cense, March 1838 (Swartzell 1840, iv). Because the Joseph Sr. signature in
the Nathan Pierce docket book varies only slightly from that of his son’s, and
the sample of Joseph Sr. holograph signatures is extremely small, certainly
one cannot exclude Joseph Sr. with the finality that Faulring does.

483

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

project, although it is not clear in what capacity he served. Pomeroy Tucker
possibly gave a hint: “The book, as a money-making enterprise, fell dead
before the public. ... It found no buyers, or but very few. ... Hence another
‘command’ became necessary in regard to the sale of the book, after a few
week’s faithful but unsuccessful trial of the market by Harris as a monopolist
salesman. This was easily called down by Smith in favor of his patriarch father.
... The patriarch having been permitted by this changed revelation, with the
consent of Harris, to appropriate a portion of the avails of sales toward his
family necessities, he effected some sales, chiefly in barter trades, on accom¬
modating terms for the purchasers of the books, always maintaining the
revealed price of ten shillings” (III.J.8, POMEROY TUCKER AC¬
COUNT, 1867, 61-62). Tucker’s account is garbled since the terms of
agreement are the reverse of what he describes. It is the senior Smith who
agrees to give Harris “an equal privilege with me & my friends.” Moreover,
the date of the agreement is 16 January 1830, two months before the Book
of Mormon was released for sale.

The wording of the agreement indicates that as of 16 January 1830
Harris anticipated that the sale of the books would fully pay off his $3,000
mortgage to Grandin, and that the surplus would go to Joseph Sr. and friends.
However, the lack of sales would eventually force Harris to sell about 151
acres of land to Thomas Lakey (deed dated 7 April 1831; see introduction
to IILL.14, MARTIN HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829).

The terms of the agreement may not have pleased Harris, who seems
to have hoped to make a profit from his investment in the Book of Mormon.
According to Tucker, “Harris was led to believe that the book would be a
profitable speculation for him, and very likely in this may be traced his leading
motive for taking the venture. He was vouchsafed the security of a ‘special
revelation’ commanding that the new Bible should in no instance be sold at
a less price than ‘ten shillings,’ and that he himself should have the exclusive
right of sale, with all the avails. ... Indeed, he figured up the profits ... thus:
5,000 books at $1.25 per book, $6,250. First cost, $3,000. Showing a clear
speculation of over one hundred per sent upon the investment” (III.J.8,
POMEROY TUCKER ACCOUNT, 1867, 55; see also III.A.7, LUCY
HARRIS STATEMENT, 29 NOV 1833; III.A.6, ABIGAIL HARRIS
STATEMENT, 28 NOV 1833, 254). If Harris held any speculative notions
about profiting from his financing the book before 16 January 1830, his
limited interest in the Book of Mormon was clearly defined in this agree¬
ment.

Moreover, not only was Harris excluded from profiting from the Book
of Mormon, the agreement also stipulated that he was only entitled to half

484

JOSEPH SMITH, SR., AND MARTIN HARRIS AGREEMENT, 1830

of the proceeds from sales until his debt to Grandin was paid off. This meant
that all 5,000 copies of the first edition had to be sold by 25 February 1831
to prevent the sale of Harris’s farm. Little wonder Harris expressed concern
about the slow sale of the books (see introduction to III. L. 14, MARTIN
HARRIS MORTGAGE, 25 AUG 1829).

The pedigree of the agreement and the particulars of Simon Gratz’s
procurement of it are unknown. It was acquired by the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania, along with Gratz’s enormous autograph collection, in the
1920s. It is apparently in Oliver Cowdery’s handwriting and signed by Joseph
Smith, Sr.

I hereby agree that Martin Harris shall have an equal privilege with me
& my friends of selling the Book of Mormon of the Edition now printing
by Egbert B Grandin until enough of them shall be sold to pay for the printing
of the same or until such times as the said Grandin shall be paid for the
printing the aforesaid Books or copies[.]

[s] Joseph Smith Sr

Manchester January the 16th 1830 —

Witness [s] Ohver H P Cowdery^

2. Cowdery’s use of middle initials is consistent with other documents
dating from this period (see I. A. 1, JOSEPH SMITH TO OLIVER COW-
DERY, 22 OCT 1829; III.G.3, OLIVER COWDERY TO JOSEPH
SMITH, 28 DEC 1829; and III.G.l, OLIVER COWDERY TO HYRUM
SMITH, 14 JUN 1829; V.E.5, JOSEPH SMITH HARMONY [PA] LAND
RECORDS, 1828-1833).

485

18.

LEMUEL DURFEE PROBATE PAPERS, 1830

Lemuel Durfee, Probate Papers, filed 22 January 1830, Wayne County
Clerk’s Office, Lyons, New York.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Lemuel Durfee, the Smiths’ landlord, died on 8 August 1829. On 31
August, Isaac Hussee and Peter Harris were appointed to appraise Durfee’s
personal property. Among his papers was evidently found a promissory note
from Joseph Smith, Sr., and Abraham Fish to Durfee for $37.50. The
inventory of Durfee’s estate, which was filed on 22 January 1830 by Durfee’s
executors Oliver Durfee and Lemuel Durfee, Jr., lists the Smith/Fish note.
This document, a portion of which is reproduced below, lists the $37.50
note as well as $1.42 in interest, for a total of $38.92.

On 19 January 1830, three days before the filing of Durfee’s probate
papers, Lemuel Durfee, Jr., entered a plea before Justice of the Peace Nathan
Pierce for judgement against Joseph Smith, Sr., and Abraham Fish for $39.92,
both of whom signed a consent for the judge to enter a judgement against
them for damages for that amount. It was evidently some time before Durfee
recovered his damages as the docket book indicates that on 13 September
1830 Durfee received $41.44, which included $1.52 in additional interest
(see IILL.19, NATHAN PIERCE DOCKET BOOK, 1830). Judging from
the interest paid for the nearly eight months (from 19 January to 13
September 1830), nineteen cents per month, the $1.42 interest perhaps points
to a January/ February 1829 date (or seven and a half months previous) for
the creation of the Smith/Fish note. Unfortunately, the record fails to
indicate the reason for the Smith/Fish debt.

One note Signed by Joseph Smith and Abra=

ham Fish thirty Seven dollars and fifty cents 37.50

interest 1.42

486

19.

NATHAN Pierce docket book, 1830

Nathan Pierce Docket Book, 1827-1830, 25, 32, 76b (entries of 19 January
1830, 22 February 1830, 28 June 1830, and “execution” order of 14 August
1830), Manchester Township Office, Clifton Springs, New York.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Nathan Pierce was a justice of the peace in Manchester, New York.
He also served as town assessor and collector (Milliken 1911, 410). Pierce,
in his thirties, is listed in the 1830 census of Manchester (1830:169).

Pierce’s docket book contains a number of entries for a “Joseph Smith”
and a “Hiram Smith” (and/or “Hyram Smith”). Although Richard L.
Anderson has expressed some caution about these entries (1970, 292), in
every instance but one (item 2 below), it is fairly certain that the cases involve
either Joseph Smith, Sr., or his son Hyrum. Transcriptions are provided for
the following four items:

1. Lemuel Durfee vs. Joseph Smith and Abraham Fish.

On 19 January 1830, Lemuel Durfee, Jr., entered a plea before Justice
of the Peace Nathan Pierce for a judgment against Joseph Smith, Sr., and
Abraham Fish for $39.92, both of whom signed a consent for the justice to
enter a judgment against them for that amount. Durfee sought the judgment
because an inventory of his recently deceased father’s estate had found an
unpaid promissory note of Joseph Smith, Sr., and Abraham Fish to Lemuel
Durfee for $37.50 (the inventory occurred on 31 August 1829; see IILL.18,
LEMUEL DURFEE PROBATE PAPERS, 1830). However, Durfee Jr.
entered his plea three days before Lemuel Durfee Sr.’s probate papers were
filed, at a time of year when many farmers would find it difficult to pay off
debts. On 7 May 1830, Pierce issued an “execution” to Constable Sylvester
Southworth to coUect damages from Fish and Smith. In an entry of 28 August
1830, Pierce noted his success in collecting both damages and legal fees from
Smith and Fish (who were undoubtedly able to pay their debt with the
proceeds from selling wheat). In a final entry of 13 September 1830, Lemuel
Durfee acknowledges payment of $41.44.

A summary of the charges in this case are as follows: At the time of the
inventory, Durfee was entitled to $1.42 in interest, for a total of $38.92. The
19 January 1830 judgment, however, is for $39.92, and the additional $1.00

487

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

is unexplained. To this was added justice’s costs of 31 cents, bringing the
judgment to a total of $40.23. On 7 May 1830, Constable Southworth was
issued an execution order against Smith and Fish at a cost of 19 cents. Adding
82 cents for interest, the total would have come to $41.24. On 28 August
1830, Pierce noted that he received payment for the damages, his costs, and
execution fee. He then rewrote the amounts due: Durfee’s damages $39.92,
interest $1.52, costs 60 cents, and total $42.04. In September, Durfee signed
Pierce’s docket book, stating that he had received his damages of $41.44:
that is, $39.92 plus $1.52 in interest. Judging from the interest paid for the
nearly eight months from 19 January to 13 September, or 19 cents per month,
the $1.42 interest indicated in the Durfee inventory perhaps points to a
January/ February 1829 date (or seven and a half months previous) for the
original Smith/Fish note.

2. Theophilus Short vs. Hiram Smith.

On 22 February 1830, Theophilus Short sued a “Hiram Smith” for
$50.00 for not fulfilling his contract to provide “barrel headings.” Pierce
issued his “summons” on 22 February 1830, and the parties appeared on 5
March 1830. The case was evidently deferred to justice Holet, but settled
before the hearing date of 17 March. This person is probably the Hiram
Smith who signed Hurlbut’s 1833 affidavit and served as overseer of Man¬
chester Road District 30 for the years 1829, 1834, and 1837 (see III.A.l,
MANCHESTER RESIDENTS GROUP STATEMENT, 3 NOV 1833;
introduction to IILL.9, PALMYRA [NY] MASONIC RECOPJ9S, 1827-
1828; and R. L. Anderson 1970, 292). Note also the spelling of “Hiram” in
this case and that of “Hyram” of the other cases (see below).

3. Levi Daggett vs. Hyrum Smith.

On 8 June 1830, Justice Nathan Pierce issued a “summons” for Hyrum
Smith to appear, which was returned on 18 June without Hyrum, who was
attending conference in Fayette. A second “summons” was therefore issued
on 18 June, which was served on 21 June but also returned on 28 June
without Hyrum. On this day Levi Daggett sued Hyrum Smith for an
outstanding debt, which evidently consisted of a note dated 7 April 1830
(amount not specified in docket), interest, and 69 cents for shoeing horses,
totaling $20.07. On the same day Joseph Smith, Sr., appeared before Pierce
representing Hyrum, who had directed his father to allow Pierce to enter a
judgment against him for $20.07.

In the left hand margin. Pierce noted the events of the case. On 14
August 1830, Pierce issued an “execution,” which permitted the sheriff
either to collect on the judgment (of 28 June 1830) or to take Hyrum to the

488

NATHAN PIERCE DOCKET BOOK, 1830

“common Jail.” On 13 September, Pierce noted that the execution had been
returned, that Constable Harrington collected from Hyrum $12.81, and that
Daggett was paid $9.94. Pierce reissued the execution on 27 September,
which was returned on 26 October with Constable Harrington reporting
that “no property nor body to be found” (item 4 below). Hyrum and his
family had evidently moved to ColesviUe, Broome County, New York, in
early October (I.B.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, 1853:159, and note
266).

New York law allowed a suit to be filed either in the township where
the plaintiff lived or (as in this case) in the township where the defendant
lived {Revised Statutes, 1829, 2:226, sec. 8). A summons could only be issued
in the county where the person summoned resided (ibid., 2:228, sec. 13).
Since Daggett was a resident of Palmyra, this would tend to support Wesley
P. Walters’s contention that Hyrum’s residence, the original Smith cabin,
was located in Manchester, not Palmyra as some have suggested (Walters
1987 and 1989; see also introduction to III.L.4, SMITH MANCHESTER
[NY] LAND ILECORDS, 1820-1830).

4. Execution Order.

Having found in favor of Levi Daggett (item 3 above). Justice Pierce
issued an “execution” on 14 August 1830 authorizing Constable Southworth
to collect from Hyrum Smith damages amounting to $21.07, plus $1.79 for
legal costs, and 18 cents interest (a total of $23. 04), to be paid by 13 September
1830, or to confine Hyrum in the “common Jail.” The execution being
returned on 13 September without satisfaction. Pierce reissued and extended
it to 27 September 1830. On the reverse side of the execution, A. K. Daggett
signed on behalf of Levi Daggett acknowledging the receipt of $9.94 from
Constable Harrington on 13 September 1830. This is followed by the signed
statement by Constable Harrington that on 13 September he had received
from the Smiths a total of $12.81. The execution was evidently reissued on
27 September 1830. A note on the back signed by Constable Harrington and
dated 26 October 1830 reports that “No property to be found Nor Boddy
and I return the Execution.” This execution is a printed form and was found
inserted amoung the pages of Pierce’s docket book.

Richard L. Anderson’s statement that the Pierce docket book “shows
the attempt of the Smiths to be honest in their financial obhgations” is true
in the case of Lemuel Durfee vs. Joseph Smith and Abraham Fish but not for
Levi Daggett vs. Hyrum Smith. The latter case tends to support the
accusations of former neighbors that the Smiths had skipped town without
paying their debts (e.g., IILA.8, ROSWELL NICHOLS STATEMENT, 1
DEC 1833). Following his sudden removal to ColesviUe in early October

489

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

1830, Hyrum was not only sought by Levi Daggett for an unpaid debt but
also by Alexander McIntyre, who, according to Joseph Smith, had taken out
a warrant against Hyrum (see LA. 5, JOSEPH SMITH TO COLESVILLE
SAINTS, 2 DEC 1830). Joseph Smith, Sr., was also wanted in Palmyra for
an unpaid debt. From Kirtland, Ohio, Joseph Smith wrote Hyrum at
ColesviUe on 3 March 1831, warning him that “David Jackways has
threatened to take father with a sup^reme writ[.] In the spring you had
<better> Come to fayette and take father along with you[.] Come in a one
horse wagon if if you Can[.] do not Come threw Bufalo for th[e]y will lie
in wait for you” (Jessee 1984, 231-32).

With the possible exception of one entry for 19 February 1825
involving a Russell Stoddard vs. Joseph Smith, in an Ontario County
Judgment Docket, the Nathan Pierce Docket Book is the only known legal
record of the Smiths’ financial difficulties in the Palmyra/Manchester area.^
Dale Morgan has cited two judgments and two execution orders against a
“Joseph Smith” in late 1822 as evidence of “how desperately poor the Smiths
were at this time” (J. P. Walker 1986, 364 n. 17). However, the Joseph Smith
of these Ontario County records was one of the other nine Joseph Smiths
enumerated in the 1820 census of Ontario County.^

1. In light of the Smiths’ difficulties with a “Mr. Stoddard” in Decem¬
ber 1825, the entry of Russell Stoddard vs. Joseph Smith, 19 February 1825,
Ontario County Judgment Docket, is intriguing. The Joseph Smith of this re¬
cord was ordered by Justice Peter Mitchell to pay the plaintif $66.59 and the
court 25 cents (Ontario County Records Center, Canandaigua, New York;
see also LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, n. 107; and IILL.4,

SMITH MANCHESTER [NY] LAND RECORDS, 1820-1830, n. 4).

2. Actually, these cases began during the August 1820 term of the On¬
tario County Court of Common Pleas, which issued two judgements against
a “Joseph Smith”: Abner Woodworth vs. Joseph Smith (for $98.25) and Job
F. Brooks vs. Joseph Smith (for $61.73). In late 1822, interest having swelled
Smith’s debts to $115.61 and $79.09, Woodworth and Brooks obtained addi¬
tional judgements, as well as two execution orders. In response to the first or¬
der, the sheriff reported back on 27 November 1822 that Smith had “no
goods or chattels lands or tenements whereon to levy.” The second execu¬
tion of 20 December 1822 resulted in satisfying the Brooks judgement, but
the sheriff’s report remained the same for the Woodworth judgement (Court
of Common Pleas, August 1820 Term, and Book of “Executions,” under
“S”, Ontario County Records Center and Archives, Canandaigua, New
York). The statement in the executions that there were no lands to levy does

490

NATHAN PIERCE DOCKET BOOK, 1830

[1. Lemuel Duifee vs. Joseph Smith, Sr., and Abraham Fish, 19 January 1830]
Injustice Court before Nathan Pierce justice

Lemuel Durfee
vs

Joseph Smith
Abraham Fish

The hereby [defendants] confess Judgement in this cause at the suit of the
above named plaintiff for thirty nine dollars and ninety t^vo cents damages
this 19th day of January 1830 and consent that the Said Justice inter
Judgement against us accordingly

[s] Joseph Smith
his

Abraham + Fish
mark

Judgement Rendered on the above confession for the said sum of thirty nine
dollars and ninety two cents Damages against the Said Joseph Smith and
Abraham Fish in favor of the Said Lemuel Durfee

January 19th 1830

Damages

$39.92

Costs

.31

Nathan Pierce Justice of the peace

Judgement $40.23

7th May 1830 Execution Issued to

Execution .19

S. Southworth^

Interest

[$41.2]4

28th August 1830 received the damage and my costs of S. Southworth

not fit the Smiths since they were taxed for their Manchester property in
1821 (see IILL.6, SMITH MANCHESTER [NY] LAND ASSESSMENT
RECORDS, 1821-1823 & 1830; and IILL.4, SMITH MANCHESTER
[NY] LAND RECORDS, 1820-1830). Job F. Brooks is difficult to trace,
but Abner Woodworth was a town supervisor and justice of the peace in Ben¬
ton, Ontario County (now Yates County), New York (Aldrich 1892, 364;
U.S. Census, Benton, Ontario County, New York, 1820:254). The “Joseph
Smith” (between twenty-six and forty-five years of age), also listed in the
1820 census of Benton, is most probably the person Woodworth sued in
1820 and 1822 (1820:262).

3. Sylvester Southworth, in his twenties, is listed in the 1830 census of
Manchester, New York (1830:80).

491

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

Damages

$39.92

Interest

1.52

Costs

.60

$42.04

13th Sept 1830 received my damage $41.44

[s] Lemuel Durfee[p. 25]

[2. Theophilus Short vs. Hiram Smith, 22 February 1830]

Theophilus Short"^
ads [adversus]

Hiram Smith

Summons Issued 22d February 1830 Ret[urned] 5th March one oclock my
house court called parties present plaintiff declares for cash and for damage
in not delivering barrel heading according to contract <to — his damage fifty
dollars — > Plea the general Issue and set off of Barrel heading and [bushing?]
the same parties agree to adjourn this cause to J. [Daneve?] Holet on 17th
March at one oclock after noon[.]

Parties Setled cost taxed to plaintiff

S. Southworth court fees $0.40

Justice fees Paid by plaintiff .43 [p. 32]

[3. Levi Daggett vs. Hyrum Smith, 28 June 1830]

Levi Daggett^
vs

Hyram Smith

4. Theophilus Short moved to Manchester in 1804 and opened the
first flour and saw mill. In 1822 he built a second flour mill north of the first
(McIntosh 1876, 59, 178, 179; MiUiken 1911, 414).

5. Levi Daggett, Sr. (1768-1835), a manufacturer and machinist, was
born at Needham, Massachusetts. He moved to Saratoga, New York, then to
Palmyra, New York. He married Lydia Patterson in 1795; they had nine chil¬
dren (Doggett 1973, 149-50). He was also a member of Palmyra’s Mount
Moriah Lodge of Freemasons in 1827 (see introduction to IILL.9,

PALMYRA [NY] MASONIC ILECORDS, 1827-1828). Daggett was a wit¬
ness in the case of Hyrum, Samuel, and Lucy Smith’s “Neglect of public wor¬
ship” at Palmyra’s Western Presbyterian Church in March 1830 (see IILL.20,
PALMYRA [NY] PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH RECORDS, MAR 1830).

492

NATHAN PIERCE DOCKET BOOK, 1830

8th June 1830 Sum[mons] plea trespass on the Case Ret[urned] 18th June
my house 3 oclock after noon and returned served by copy by S. Southworth

18th June 1830 another Summons issued Ret[urned] 28th day of June 1830
at one oclock after noon to S. Southworth and returned served by Copy 21st
ofjune 1830

28th June 1830 Joseph <Smith> father of the Defendant appeared and the
Case was called and the plaintif declared for a note and account[.] Note dated
7th April 1830 for $20.07 on Interest and on account for Shoeing horses of
ballance due on account $0.69[.] Joseph Smith sworn and saith that his Son
the Defendant engaged him to Come down at the return of the sum=mons
and direct the Justice to enter Judgment against the defendant for the amount
of the note & account[.] Judgment for the plaintif for twenty one dollars
seven cents [.]

Costs S. Southworth Court fees

$0.80

Witness fees

.I2V2

Lamar [Pick?] served Sub [poena]

.I2V2

Justice costs

.55

1.60

Paid by Justice

$21.07

4th April 1831

1.60

22.67

[remainder written in left margin]

I4th August 1830 Execution issued to Erastus Cole^

13th September 1830 this Execution returned in [hand?] by N. Harrington^
that he had collected $12.81 and paid plaintif 9.94 by receipt on Execution
and I received of said constable $1.79 court costs

The above Execution received and returned to plaintif this 27th Sept 1830
for to collect this amount due —

6. Perhaps Erastus Cole, over forty-five years of age, listed in the 1820
census ofjerusalem, Ontario County, New York (1820:207).

7. Nathan Harrington, between twenty-six and forty-five years of age,
is listed in the 1820 census of Farmington, Ontario County, New York
(1820:310).

493

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

26th October 1830 Execution returned no property nor body to be found
by N. Harrington Constable [p. 76b]

[4. Execution Order, 14 August 1830f

Execution

County, ss. — The People of the State of New York, by the Grace
of God Free and Independent:

To any Constable of the said County, Greeting:

WHEREAS Judgment was rendered before me Nathan Pierce
Esq. one of the Justices of the Peace of the said county, on the 28th
day of June 1830 against Hyrum Smith in favor of Levi Daggett for
twenty one Dollars Seven Cents, the damages, and one Dollars Seventy
nine Cents, the costs: — THESE are therefore to command you to
levy on the goods and chattels of the said defendant (except such
as are by law exempted from execution) the amount of the said
judgment, and bring the money before me, on the 13th day of
September 1830 at my office in the town of Manchester in the said
county, to render to the said plaintiff. And if no goods or chattels
can be found, or not sufficient to satisfy this execution, then you
are hereby commanded to take the body of the said defendant and
convey him to the common Jail of the county aforesaid, there to
remain until this execution shall be satisfied and paid. Hereof fail
not at your peril. Given under my hand, at Manchester this 14th day
of August in the year of our Lord, 1830

Damages

$21.07

Costs

1.79

Interest

$23.04

This Execution renewed for to Collect this amount due thereon this 27th
September 1830

fees 19 cents

[s] Nathan Pierce Justice of the Peace.

8. The printed part of the document is reproduced in bold.

494

NATHAN PIERCE DOCKET BOOK, 1830

Sold by Bemis & Ward, Canandaigua.

[reverse of execution]

Received of Nathan Harrington $9.94 Cents for Levi dgget [Daggett]
Septtember the 13th 1830

Levi Daggett
By

[s] A K Daggett

Received on this execution $12.81 this 13th day of September 1830

[s] Nathan Harrington
Constable

No property to be found Nor Boddy and I return this Execution October
the 26—1830

[s] N Harrington
Constable

$23.04

1.59

$24.63

$24.75

495

20.

PALMYRA (NY) PRESBYTERIAN RECORDS,
MARCH 1830

“Records of the Sessions of the Presbyterian Church in Palmyra,” 2:11-13,
located at the Western Presbyterian Church of Palmyra, New York (micro¬
film copy, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).

EDITORIAL NOTE

During the residency of the Joseph Smith, Sr., family in the
Palmyra/Manchester area (1816-30), Palmyra’s Western Presbyterian
Church possessed the only meeting house in Palmyra Village. It was a
frame building located a half-block north of Main Street on the west side
of Church Street. When an 1816 revival swelled membership, fifty-six
members separated from the parent church, formed the Western Presby¬
terian Church of Palmyra, and installed Jesse Townsend (1817-20) as pastor
(Backman 1980, 67; T. Cook 1930, 261). Lucy Smith and three of her
older children (Hyrum, Samuel Harrison, and Sophronia) were members
of this church.

The exact date when Lucy and the others joined the Presbyterian
church is presently unknown. Volume one of the session records, which
probably contained this information, “has been missing since at least 1932”
(Walters 1969a, 76 n. 37). However, judging from the available historical
sources, it is most probable that Lucy and her children joined Palmyra’s
Western Presbyterian Church during the revival of 1824-25, at which time
the Reverend Benjamin B. Stockton was pastor (1824-28) (Walters 1969a;
Walters 1969b; M. Hill 1982). Although Lucy dates her membership to
after Alvin’s death (19 November 1823), she apparently contradicts this
chronology when she states that she was free from aU churches until Alvin
became twenty-two (on 11 February 1820) (LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HIS¬
TORY, 1845, MS:24). The apparent contradiction may result from Martha
Coray’s editing, or perhaps Lucy alludes to her attendance at the church
prior to her seeking membership there (R. L. Anderson 1969a, 390-91 n.
55). Indeed, that Alvin’s funeral service was conducted by the Reverend
Stockton may indicate the Smith family’s previous connection with this
church.

According to the sessions record herein transcribed, a Presbyterian

496

PALMYRA (NY) PRESBYTERIAN RECORDS, 1830

committee was appointed on 3 March 1830 to visit Lucy, Hyrum, and
Samuel Harrison Smith, to inquire about their absence from church, and to
report their responses at the next meeting. Sophronia, who is not mentioned
in the sessions record, might have withdrawn earlier, perhaps resulting from
her marriage on 2 December 1827 to Calvin Stoddard, a former Baptist with
Methodist leanings (Backman 1980, 69 n. 25; Bushman 1984, 205 n. 32;
Walters 1969b, 98). On 10 March the committee reported that they had
visited the Smiths and “received no satisfaction,” and that the Smiths
“acknowledged that they had en=tirely neglected the ordinances of the
church for the last eighteen months and that they did not wish to united with
us any more.” This indicates that Lucy and the others had ceased attending
services for at least eighteen months, or since about September 1828. The
session then resolved to order the appearance of the three Smiths at the next
meeting (24 March) to answer the charges of the committee’s six witnesses.
The Smiths did not appear before the Presbyterian council on 24 March, nor
on 29 March, and the session appointed George Beckwith in their defense.
The trial resulted in the Smiths’ suspension from church worship.

Lucy Smith misdates her meeting with the Presbyterian committee
(although she may be describing an entirely different event) to about
October/November 1829, stating that the Presbyterian council sent “three
delegates” to persuade her and her two sons to denounce the Book of
Mormon (LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, MS:105-110; R. L.
Anderson 1969a, 390-91). The sessions record mentions only the Reverend
Alfred E. Campbell and Henry Jessup being sent, but Lucy said George
Beckwith acted as spokesman for the committee of three.

The following transcription from the sessions record includes notes
of the four meetings pertinent to the Smiths’ case: 3, 10, 24, and 29
March 1830.

[3 March 1839]

March 3d 1830 Session met pursuant to notice — opened with prayer
Present Revd Alfred E Campbell^ Moderr [moderator]

1. Alfred E. Campbell was commissioned by the Home Missionary So¬
ciety, installed as pastor on 18 November 1828, and remained over two years
(McIntosh 1877, 71, 147; T. Cook 1930, 261).

497

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

Henry Jessup
Geo Beckwith^
David White"^
Pelatiah West^
Newton Foster^

Elders

A letter was recieved from the Presbyterian Church in South hampton
informing us of the unchristian conduct of John White 3d a member of this
church in the following particulars

First — total neglect of the worship of God.

Second — Intemperate to an allarming degree.

Whereup<on> resolved that a commission be made out by the mod=erator
to the Session of the church in South hampton empower=ing and requesting
them to take the testimony in the above case and transmit it to us.

Resolved that the Revd A. E. Campbell and H Jessup be a com=mittee to
visit Hiram Smith [,] Lucy Smith[,] and Samuel Harrison Smith and report
at the meeting of Session

Closed with prayer —

Recorded from the Moderators minutes^

Geo. N. Williams Cl[er]k^

[ iO March 1830]

March 10th 1830 Session met pursuant to notici

2. On Henry Jessup, see LB. 5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, n.
106. Jessup also signed Hurlbut’s Palmyra group affidavit (see III.A.ll,
PALMYRA ILESIDENTS GROUP STApTEMENT, 4 DEC 1833).

3. On George Beckwith (1790-1867), see III.A.ll, PALMYRA RESI¬
DENTS GROUP STATEMENT, 4 DEC 1833, n. 37.

4. David White was one of the earliest settlers in Palmyra (McIntosh
1877, 140; T. Cook 1930, 13).

5. On Pelatiah West, see III.A.ll, PALMYRA RESIDENTS
GROUP STATEMENT, 4 DEC 1833, n. 29.

6. Newton Foster, in his twenties, is listed in the 1830 census of
Palmyra, New York (1830:51).

7. These minutes have not been located.

8. On George N. Williams (1797-1867), see III.A.ll, PALMYILA
RESIDENTS GROUP STATEMENT, 4 DEC 1833, n. 4.

498

PALMYRA (NY) PRESBYTERIAN RECORDS, 1830

Opened with prayer —

Present Revd Alfred E. Campbell Modr [moderator]

Geo Beckwith
Henry Jessup

Pelatiah West
Newton Foster

Elders

The committee appointed to visit Hiram Smith[,] Lucy Smith and Samuel
Harrison Smith reported that they had visited them and recieved no satisfac¬
tion. They acknowledged that they had en=tirely neglected the ordinances
of the church for the last eighteen months and that they did not wish to unite
with us any more —

Whereupon Resolved that they be cited to appear before the Ses[p. lljsion
on the 24th day of March inst at 2 Oclk P.M. at this Meeting House to
answer to the following charge to wit Neglect of public worship and the
Sacriment of the Lords Supper for the last eighteen months —

Witnesses Henry Jessup James Robinson^

Harvey Shel Rob[er]t W Smith^^

Levi Dagget^^ Fred[erick] U. Sheffield^^

Closed with prayer — ^Adjourned to 24 inst 2 Oc[loc]k P.M.

Recorded from the minutes of the Moderator

Geo. N. Williams cl[er]k

[24 March 1830]

March 24th 1830 Session met pursuant to adjournment —
Opened with prayer

9. James Robinson, in his twenties, is listed in the 1830 census of
Palmyra, New York (1830:43).

10. On Robert W. Smith, see III.A.ll, PALMYRA [NY] ILESI-
DENTS GROUP STATEMENT, 4 DEC 1833, n. 28.

11. On Levi Daggett (1768-1835), who subsequently sued Hyrum for
not paying a debt, see IILL.19, NATHAN PIERCE DOCKET BOOK,
1830, 5.

12. Frederick U. Sheffield was elected to the New York State Assem¬
bly in 1841 (McIntosh 1877, 43).

499

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

Present the Revd Alfred E. Campbell Modr [moderator]

Henry Jessup
Geo. Beckwith

Peletiah West Elders

Newton Foster
David White

Hiram Smith[,] Lucy Smith and Samuel Harrison Smith not appearing
pursuant to the citation served upon them by P[elatiah]. West — Resolved
that they be again cited to appear before this Session on Monday the 29th
inst at this place at 2 oc[loc]k P.M. — and that P[elatiah]. West served said
citation —

Closed with prayer — adjourned to 29th 2 Oc[loc]k P.M.

Recorded from the minutes of the Moderator

Geo. N. Williams cl[er]k ... [p. 12] ...

[29 March 1830]

March 29th 1830 Session met pursuant to adjournment —

Opened with prayer —

Present Revd Alfred E. Campbell Modr [moderator]

Geo Beckwith
Newton Foster

Elders

Peletiah West
Henry Jessup

The persons before cited to wit. Hiram Smith[,] Lucy Smith and Samuel
Harrison Smith not appearing and the Sess=ion having satisfactory evidence
that the citations were duly served Resolved that they be censured for their
contumacy Resolved that George Beckwith manage their defense — The
charge in the above case being fuUy sustained by the tes=timony of Henry
Jesup[,] Harvey Shel[,] Rob[er]t W Smith and Frederick U Sheffield — (see
minutes of testimony on file with the clerk) the Session after duly consid¬
ering the matter were unanimously of opinion that Hiram Smith [,] Lucy
Smith and Samuel Harison Smith ought to be Suspended —

13. These minutes have not been recovered.

500

PALMYRA (NY) PRESBYTERIAN RECORDS, 1830

Resolved that Hiram Smith [,] Lucy Smith and Samuel Harrison Smith be
and they hereby are suspended from the Sacrament of the Lords Supper —

Closed with prayer — adjourned —

Recorded from the minutes of the Moderator

Geo. N. Williams cl[er]k ... [p. 13]

501

21.

MANCHESTER (NY) CENSUS RECORD, 1830

Federal Census Records, Manchester, Ontario County, New York,
1830:170. Family No. 124. Original in National Archives, Washington,

D.C.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Following the death of their landlord, Lemuel Durfee, the Smiths were
ordered to vacate their frame house. Consequently, about 1 April 1829, the
Smiths returned to their log cabin, which had been occupied by Hyrum
following his marriage in November 1826 (I.B.5, LUCY SMITH HIS¬
TORY 1845,MS:92). Sometime between 2 August and 20 November 1820,
the Smiths were enumerated in the 1830 Federal Census for Manchester,
Ontario County, New York.^ This event suggests that the Smiths’ cabin was
situated in Manchester, not in Palmyra as some have assumed.^ Below is an
analysis of census data as it relates to the Smith family.

MANCHESTER CENSUS DATA
number sex

1 male

ANALYSIS TO SMITH FAMILY

age

0-15

consistent for

Don Carlos (age

14)

15-20

consistent for

WiUiam (age 19)

1. The 1830 census by law was to begin on the first Monday in August
(2 August 1830) and be completed by February 1831. A notation at the end
of the Ontario County census suggests completion by 20 November 1830. It
is unknown if the 1830 enumeration was taken before or after Hyrum’s move
to Colesville in early October (LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845,
1853:159, note 266); the appearance of Hyrum and his family in the Man¬
chester census does not indicate their actual presence in the township since
enumerators were instructed to list all those residing in the area on 1 June
1830 (Wright 1900, 140).

2. For a discussion of the location of the Smiths’ cabin, see IILL.2,
PALMYBJV [NY] HIGHWAY SURVEY, 13 JUN 1820; IILL.4, SMITH
MANCHESTER [NY] LAND RECORDS; and IILL.6, SMITH MAN¬
CHESTER [NY] ASSESSMENT RECORDS, 1821-1823 & 1830.

502

MANCHESTER (NY) CENSUS RECORD, 1830

male

20-30

consistent for
Hymm(age 30),
Samuel (age 22)

male

50-60

consistent for

Joseph, Sr. (age 59)

female

0-5

corresponds to
Hymm’s children:
Lovina (age 2),
and Mary (age 1)

female

5-10

consistent for

Lucy (age 9)

female

20-30

consistent for
Hyrum’s wife
Jemsha (age 25)

female

30-40

unknown person

female

50-60

consistent for

Lucy (age 54)

Missing from the list is Katharine (age 17), who may have been
hired out to neighbors. Reflecting on the events of October 1830, Lucy
Smith mentioned that both Katharine and Don Carlos were “away from
home” (LB.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, 1853:159), although
she did not state the reason for their absence. The 1830 enumerators were
instructed “not to include any person whose usual abode was not in the
family they are enumerating on the said 1st day of June [1830]” (Wright
1900, 140), suggesting that Katharine had been away from home for some
time.^

3. An entry in the judgement docket for Victor, New York, provides
possible evidence for Katharine’s teaching school in neighboring towns. The
entry, dated February to June 1829, reports that a “Catharine Smith” sued
the trustees of Farmington school district No. 5 for unpaid wages. If this en¬
try pertains to the daughter of Joseph and Lucy Smith, it suggests that
Katharine Smith may have left home as early as the winter of 1828-29 to
teach school (Catharine Smith v. Trustees of Farmington School District No.
5, February-June 1829, Judgment Docket, Victor, Ontario County Historical
Society, Canandaigua, New York).

503

22.

MISSIONARIES COVENANT,
17 OCTOBER 1830

Ezra Booth to Ira Eddy, 24 November 1831, Ohio Star (Ravenna, Ohio), 8
December 1831. Reprinted inE. D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (PainesviUe,
Ohio: E. D. Howe, 1834), 213-14.

EDITORIAL NOTE

At the commencement of a three-day church conference, held 26-28
September 1830 at the home of Peter Whitmer, Sr., in Fayette, New York,
Joseph Smith dictated a revelation which commanded Oliver Cowdery to
“go unto the Lamanites and preach my gospel” (D&C 28:8). Later the same
day, another revelation instructed Peter Whitmer, Jr., to “journey with your
brother Oliver ... [and] build up my church among the Lamanites” (D&C
30:5, 6). As the two missionaries prepared for their journey, the Mormon
prophet received another revelation (D&C 32) in Manchester, New York,
on or just before 17 October, which instructed Parley P. Pratt and Ziba
Peterson to accompany Cowdery and Whitmer (L. Cook 1981, 128 n. 1).
According to Smith, the four missionaries left Manchester “immediately”
after the revelation was received, taking a copy of it with them (LA. 15,
JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY, 1839, 60-61). Also, prior to their departure,
the four missionaries signed their names to a missionaries covenant, dated 17
October 1830, which outlined the two objectives of their mission: to preach
to the Indians and to locate the site of the New Jerusalem temple.

While the four men fulfilled their mission by preaching to the Indian
tribes located near Buffalo, New York, and on the Missouri frontier in the
faU and winter of 1830-31, and were instrumental in locating the temple lot
in Independence, Missouri, their most important contribution to the fledg¬
ling church was made during a side trip to the vicinity of Mentor, Ohio,
where they converted Sidney Rigdon and others in November 1830 (see
Jennings 1971; R. L. Anderson 1971a).

The original missionaries covenant evidently has not survived, but it
was included in Ezra Booth’s letter to the Reverend Ira Eddy, dated 24
November 1831, Nelson, Ohio, and first published in the Ohio Star on 8
December 1831 (see also Howe 1834, 212-13). Richard L. Anderson has
observed, “[T]he Booth letters are the first printed source for the revelations

504

MISSIONARIES COVENANT, 1830

of Joseph Smith, mostly reproduced in short extracts. ... His quotations are
generally accurate, particularly the fairly long revelation calling Oliver
Cowdery on the Lamanite [Indian] mission [D&C 28]. ... Since Booth
responsibly copied the Oliver Cov^dery revelation, an associated document
[i.e., the missionaries covenant] very probably originated from a manuscript
source” (R. L. Anderson 1971a, 476-77).

MANCHESTER, Oct. 17, 1830.

I, Oliver [Cowdery], being commanded of the Lord God, to go forth
unto the Lamanites, to proclaim glad tidings of great joy unto them, by
presenting unto them the fullness of the Gospel, of the only begotten son of
God; and also, to rear up a pillar as a witness where the Temple of God shall
be built, in the glorious New-Jerusalem^; and having certain brothers with
me, who are called of God to assist me, whose names are Parley, Peter and
Ziba, do therefore most solemnly covenant with God, that I will walk
humbly before him, and do this business, and this glorious work according
as he shall direct me by the Holy Ghost; ever praying for mine and their
prosperity, and deliverance from bonds, and from imprisonment, and what¬
soever may befal us, with all patience and faith. — Amen.

OLIVER COWDERY.^

We, the undersigned, being called and commanded of the Lord God,
to accompany our Brother Oliver Cowdery, to go to the Lamanites, and to
assist in the above mentioned glorious work and business. We do, therefore,
most solemnly covenant before God, that we will assist him faithfully in this
thing, by giving heed unto all his words and advice, which is, or shall be
given him by the spirit of truth, ever praying with all prayer and supplication,
for our and his prosperity, and our deliverance from bonds, and imprison-

1. The Book of Mormon predicted the establishment of a New Jerusa¬
lem in America (3 Ne. 20-21; Eth. 13). On 26 September 1830, it was re¬
vealed that the New Jerusalem would be located “on the borders by the La¬
manites” (28:9), but the exact place remained undisclosed. In July 1831 Smith
dictated a revelation that designated Independence, Missouri, as the site for
the New Jerusalem, and specifically revealed that “a spot for the temple is ly¬
ing westward, upon a lot which is not far from the court-house” (D&C
57:3). See also Vogel 1988, 190-95.

2. On Oliver Cowdery (1806-50), see “Introduction to Oliver Cow¬
dery Collection.”

505

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS

ments, and whatsoever may come upon us, with all patience and faith. —
Amen.

Signed in presence of^

JOSEPH SMITH, Jun.

DAVID WHITMER/

P. P. PRATT,®

ZIBA PETERSON,'’

PETER WHITMERJ

3. The typesetting for this document, as it appears in the Ohio Star,
probably incorrectly represents the original. Thus when E. D. Howe publish¬
ed Ezra Booth’s letters (1834, 213-14), he arranged the names as follows:

P. P. PRATT,

ZIBA PETERSON,

PETER WHITMER.

signed in presence of
JOSEPH SMITH, JUN.

DAVID WHITMER

4. On David Whitmer (1805-88), see “Introduction to David Whit-
mer Collection.”

5. On Parley Parker Pratt (1807-57), see introduction to III. K. 16,
PARLEY P. PBJVTT AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PART I), CIRCA 1854.

6. On Richard Ziba Peterson (?-1849), see I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 105.

7. On Peter Whitmer, Jr. (1809-36), see I.A.15, JOSEPH SMITH
HISTORY, 1839, n. 63.

506

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aldrich, Lewis Cass. History of Yates County, N.Y. Syracuse, NY: D. Mason and Co.,
1892.

Anderson, Richard Lloyd. “Circumstantial Confirmation of the First Vision
Through Reminiscences.” Brigham Young University Studies 9 (Spring 1969):
373-404.

- . “The Reliability of the Early History of Lucy and Joseph Smith.” Dialogue:

A Journal of Mormon Thought 4 (Summer 1969): 13-28.

- . “Joseph Smith’s New York Reputation Reappraised.” Brigham Young Univer¬
sity Studies 10 (Spring 1970): 283-314.

- . “The Impact of the First Preaching in Ohio.” Brigham Young University Studies

11 (Summer 1971a): 474-96.

- .Joseph Smithes New England Heritage: Influences of Grandfathers Solomon Mack and

Asael Smith. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1971b.

- . Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.,

1981.

- . “The Mature Joseph Smith and Treasure Searching.” Brigham Young University

Studies 24 (Fall 1984): 489-560.

Arrington, Leonard J. “Early Mormon Communitarianism: The Law of Consecra¬
tion and Stewardship.” Western Humanities Review 1 (Autumn 1953).

- . “James Gordon Bennett’s 1831 Report on ‘The Mormonites.’” Brigham Young

University Studies 10 (Spring 1970): 353-64.

- . Brigham Young: American Moses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985.

Avery, Lillian Drake. A Genealogy of the Ingersoll Family in America, 1 629-1925. New
York: Grafton Press, 1926.

Backman, Milton V .,]v. Joseph Smithes First Vision: Confirming Evidence and Contem¬
porary Accounts . 2nd ed. Revised and enlarged. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1980.

- . A Profile of Latter-day Saints of Kirtland, Ohio, and Members of Zion^s Camp,

1830-1 839: Vital Statistics and Sources. Provo, UT : Brigham Y oung University,
1983.

Bagg, M. M. The Pioneers of Utica. Utica, NY: Curtiss and Childs, 1877.

Baldwin, Charles Candee. The Baldwin Genealogy, from 1500 to 1881. Cleveland,
OH: Lender Printing Co., 1881.

Bean, Willard. A.B. C. History of Palmyra and the Beginning of ^^Mormonism. ” Palmyra,
NY: Palmyra Courier Co., 1938.

Berge, Dale L. “Archaeological Work at the Smith Log House.” Ensign (August
1985): 24-26.

507

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bitton, Davis. Guide to Mormon Diaries and Autobiographies. Provo, UT: Brigham
Young University, 1977.

Black, Susan Easton. Membership of the Church of fesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
1830-1848. 50 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young
University, 1987.

Blair, Frederick B., comp. The Memoirs of President W. W. Blair. Lamoni, lA: Herald
Publishing House, 1908.

Boase, Frederick. Modern English Biography. 9 vols. Truro, England: Netherton and
Worth, 1892-1921.

Braden, Clark, and Kelley, E. L. Public Discussion of the Issues Between the Reorganized
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Church of Christ (Disciples) Held
in Kirtland, Ohio, Beginning February 12, and Closing March 8, 1884 Between E.
L. Kelley, of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and Clark
Braden, of the Church of Christ. St. Louis: Clark Braden, [1884].

Brodie, Fawn M. No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith the Mormon
Prophet. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945.

Brudnoy, David Barry. “Liberty’s Bugler: The Seven Ages of Theodore Schroeder.”

Ph.D. dissertation. Brandies University, 1971.

Bush, Lester E., Jr. “The Spalding Theory Then and Now.” Dialogue: A Journal of
Mormon Thought 10 (Autumn 1977): 40-69.

Bushman, Richard L. Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism. Urbana and
Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1984.

Cannon, Donald Q. “Joseph Smith in Salem (D&C 111).” In Robert L. MiUet and
Kent P. Jackson., eds. Studies in Scripture, Volume 1: The Doctrine and Covenants.
Sandy, UT: Randall Book Co., 1984. Pp. 432-37.

Cannon, Donald Q., and Cook, Lyndon W. Far West Record: Minutes of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1844. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book
Co., 1983.

Cathcart, William. The Baptist Encyclopaedia. Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1883.
Child, Hamilton. Gazetteer and Business Directory of Ontario County. Syracuse, NY:
Journal Office, 1867.

Church History in the Fulness of Times. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, 1989.

Clark, Victor S. History of Manufactures in the United States. 3 vols. New York: Peter
Smith, 1949.

Coles, Charles C., Jr. The Social Ideas of the Northern Evangelists, 1826-1860. New
York: Octagon Books, 1977.

Conover, Charlotte Reeve, ed. Dayton and Montgomery County: Resources and People.

3 vols. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1932.

Conover, George S., ed. History of Ontario County, New York. Syracuse, NY: D.
Mason and Co., 1888.

508

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cook, Lyndon W. The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith: A Historical and
Biographical Commentary of the Doctrine and Covenants. Provo, UT: Seventy’s
Mission Book Store, 1981.

- .Joseph Smith and the Law of Consecration. Provo, UT: Grandin Book Co., 1985.

Cook, Lyndon W., and Backman, Milton V., Jr. Kirtland Elders' Quorum Record,
1836-1841. Provo, UT: Grandin Book Co., 1985.

Cook, Thomas L. Palmyra and Vicinity. Palmyra, NY : Press of the Palmyra Courier-
Journal, 1930.

Dickenson, Ellen E. New Light on Mormonism. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1885.

Doggett, Samuel Bradlee. A History of the Doggett- Daggett Family. Baltimore: Gate¬
way Press, 1973.

Doty, Lockwood R. History of the Genesee Country. 4 Vols. Chicago: S. J. Clarke
Publishing Co., 1925.

Dubler, Allice M. Manchester Through the Years. Houghton, NY: Houghton College
Press, 1954.

Eaton, Horace. The Early History of Palmyra: A Thanksgiving Sermon, Delivered at
Palmyra, N.Y., November 26, 1857, By Horace Eaton, Pastor of the Presbyterian
Church, Palmyra, New York. Rochester, NY: Press of A. Strong and Co., 1858.

- . The Great Physician: A Sermon on Occasion of the Death of Alexander McIntyre,

M.D., Delivered in the Presbyterian Church, Palmyra, N.Y.,July 24, 1859. New
York: Printed by John F. Trow, 1860.

- . A Memorial of the Celebration at Palmyra, N.Y., of the Centennial Fourth of July,

1876. Rochester, New York: E. R. Andrews, 1876.

Embry, Jessie L. “Ultimate Taboos: Incest and Mormon Polygamy.” Journal of
Mormon History 18 (Spring 1992): 93-113.

Emerson, Edgar C., ed. Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Jefferson
County, New York. Boston, MA: The Boston History Co., 1898.

Enders, Donald L. “‘A Snug Log House’: A Historical Look at the Joseph Smith,
Sr., Family Home in Palmyra, New York.” Ensign (August 1985): 14-23.

- . “The Joseph Smith, Sr., Family: Farmers of the Genesee.” In Joseph Smith:

The Prophet, the Man. eds. Susan Easton Black and Charles D. Tate, Jr.
Religious Studies Center Monograph Series, vol. 7. Provo, UT: Brigham
Young University, 1993. Pp. 213-25.

Faulring, Scott H., ed. An American Prophet's Record: The Diaries and Journals of Joseph
Smith. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1987.

- . [Book Review]. H. Michael Marquardt and Wesley P. Walters. Inventing

Mormonism: Tradition and the Historical Record. Salt Lake City: Signature Books,
1994. In Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 21 (Fall 1995): 203-8.

French, John H. Historical and Statistical Gazetteer of New York State. Syracuse, NY:
R. P. Smith, 1860.

509

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Godfrey, Kenneth W. “More Treasures Than One: Section 111.” In ^^Hearken, O
Ye People'^: Discourses on the Doctrine and Covenants. Sperry Symposium, 1984.
Sandy, UT: Randall Book Co., 1984.

Griffin, Edward D. A Letter to the Rev. Ansel D. Eddy, of Canandaigua, N.Y. on the
Narrative of the Late Revivals of Religion, in the Presbytery of Geneva. William-
stown, [MA]: Printed by Ridley Bannister, 1832.

Gunnell, Wayne C. “Martin Harris: Witness and Benefactor to the Book of
Mormon.” MA thesis, Brigham Young University, 1955.

Hill, Ivy Hooper Blood, comp, and ed. William Blood his Posterity and Biographies of
their Progenitors. Logan, UT: J. P. Smith and Son, 1962.

Hill, Marvin S. “The First Vision Controversy: A Critique and Reconciliation.”
Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 15 (Summer 1982): 31-46.

History of Dayton, Ohio. Dayton, OH: United Brethren Publishing Co., 1889.

History of Genesee County, Michigan. Philadelphia: Everts and Abbott, 1879.

Hogan, Mervin B. “The Founding Minutes of Nauvoo Lodge.” In Further Light in
Masonry. Des Moines: Research Lodge No. 2, [February 1971].

Holms, Oliver W. “Sunday Travel and Sunday Mails: A Question Which Troubled
Our Forefathers.” New York History 20 (October 1939): 413-24.

Holzapfel, Richard Neitzel, Cottle, T. Jeflfery, and Stoddard, Ted D. Church History
in Black and White: George Edward Anderson’s Photographic Mission to Latter-day
Saint Historical Sites, 1907 Diary, 1907-8 Photographs. Provo, UT: Religious
Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1995.

Hotchkin, James H. A History of the Purchase and Settlement of Western New York, and
the Rise, Progress, and Present State of the Presbyterian Church in That Section. New
York: M. W. Dodd, 1848.

Howe, E. D. Mormonism Unvailed: or, A Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition
and Delusion, from Its Rise to the Present Time. Painesville, OH: E. D. Howe,
1834.

James, Rhett. The Man Who Knew: The Early Years. A Play About Martin Harris,
1824-1830. Cache Valley, UT: Martin Harris Pageant Committee, 1983.
[“Dramatic Biography Annotations,” 95-169.]

Jennings, Warren A. “The First Mormon Mission to the Indians.” Kansas Historical
Quarterly 38 (Autumn 1971): 288-99.

- . Latter-Day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew

Historical Co., 1901-1936; rept. Salt Lake City: Western Epics, 1971.

Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” Brigham Young University
Studies 11 (Spring 1971): 439-73.

- . “The John Taylor Nauvoo Journal: January 1845-September 1845.” Brigham

Young University Studies 23 (Summer 1983): 1-96.

- , comp, and ed. The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City: Deseret

Book, 1984.

510

BIBLIOGRAPHY

- , ed. The Papers of Joseph Smith: Autobiographical and Historical Writings. Vol. 1.

Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989.

- , ed. The Papers of Joseph Smith: Journal, 1832-1842. Vol 2. Salt Lake City:

Deseret Book, 1992.

Johnson, Benjamin F. My Life's Review. Independence, MO: Zion’s Printing and
Publishing Co., 1947.

Johnson, Paul E. A Shopkeeper's Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New
York, 1815-1837. New York: Hill and Wang, 1978.

Kenney, Scott G., ed. Wilford Woodruffs Journal. 9 vols. Midvale, UT: Signature
Books, 1983-84.

Kimball, Stanley B. “The Anthon Transcript: People, Primary Sources and Prob¬
lems.” Brigham Young University Studies 10 (Spring 1970): 325-64.

- . Heber C. Kimball: Mormon Patriarch and Pioneer. Urbana, IL: University of

Illinois Press, 1981.

Kirkham, Francis W. A New Witness for Christ in America: The Book of Mormon. 2
vols. Independence, MO: Zion’s Printing and Publishing Co., 1951.

Laws of the State ofNew-York, Revised and Passed at Thirty-Sixth Session of the Legislature.
2 vols. Albany, NY: H. C. Southwick and Co., 1813.

Ludwig, Allen 1. Graven Images: New England Stonecarving and Its Symbols, 1 650- 1815.
Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1966.

Malone, Dumas. Dictionary of American Biography. 20 vols. New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons, 1936.

Mathews, Mitford M., ed. A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles. 2 vols.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951.

[McIntosh, W. H.] History of Ontario Co., New York. Philadelphia: Everts, Ensign
and Everts, 1876.

McIntosh, W. H. History of Wayne County, New York. Philadelphia: Everts, Ensign
and Everts, 1877.

Mehling, Mary Bryant Alverson. Cowdrey- Cowdery-Cowdray Genealogy. N.p.: Frank
Allaben Genealogical Co., 1911.

Metcalfe, Brent Lee, ed. New Approaches to the Book of Mormon: Explorations in Critical
Methodology. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1993.

Milliken, Charles F. A History of Ontario County, New York and Its People. New York:
Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1911.

Monroe, Joel H. A Century and a Quarter of History — Geneva. Geneva, NY: W. F.
Humphrey, 1912.

Morris, Robert. William Morgan; Political Anti-Masonry, Its Rise, Growth and Deca¬
dence. New York: Robert Macoy, 1883.

The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. 59 vols. New York: James T. White
and Co., 1891-1980.

511

BIBLIOGRAPHY

One Hundred Years in the Paper Business, 1819-1919: Being a Brief History of the
Founding of the Paper Business of The Ailing & Cory Company, together with an
Account of its Growth During the Centenary Period of its Existence. Rochester, NY :
The Ailing Sc Cory Company, 1919.

O’Reilly, Henry. Sketches of Rochester; With Incidental Notices of Western New-York.
Rochester, NY: William Ailing, 1838.

PattengiU, C. N. Light in the Valley. Memorial Sermon Delivered at the Funeral of Pomeroy
Tucker, Palmyra, Wayne County, N.Y.,July 3d, 1870. Troy, NY: Times Steam
Printing House, 1870.

Peck, William F. Semi-Centennial History of the City of Rochester. Syracuse, NY: D.
Mason and Co., 1884.

Perciaccante, Marrianne. “Backlash Against Formalism: Early Mormonism’s Appeal
in Jefferson County.'' Journal of Mormon History 19 (Fall 1993): 35-63.

Pharmacopaeia of the Massachusetts Medical Society. Boston: E. and J. Larkin, 1808.

Pharmacopaeia Nosocomii Neo-Eboracensis; or. The Phamacopaeia of the New-York Hos¬
pital. New York: Collins and Co., 1816.

Porter, Larry C. “A Study of the Origins of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints in the States of New York and Pennsylvania, 1816-1831.” Ph.D.
dissertation. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, 1971.

- . “Solomon Chamberlain — ^Early Missionary.” Brigham Young University Studies

12 (Spring 1972): 314-18.

- . “Solomon Chamberlain’s Missing Pamphlet: Dreams, Visions, and Angelic

Ministrants.” Brigham Young University Studies 37 (1997-98): 113-40.

Pratt, Parley P. Mormonism Unveiled: Zion’s Watchman Unmasked. New York: O.
Pratt and E. Fordham, 1838.

- . Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, ed. Parley P. Pratt, Jr. New York: Russell

Brothers, 1874.

Proper, David R. “Joseph Smith and Salem.” Essex Institute Historical Collections 100
(April 1964): 93-97.

Quinn, D. Michael. Early Mormonism and the Magic World View. Salt Lake City:
Signature Books, 1987.

- . Early Mormonism and the Magic World View. 2nd ed. rev. and enl. Salt Lake

City: Signature Books, 1998.

Reed, WiUiam F. The Descendants of Thomas Du fee of Portsmouth, R.I. 2 vols.
Washington, D.C.: Gibson Brothers, 1902.

Reprint of the First Utica Directory, For the Year 1817. Utica, NY: William Williams,
1920.

The Revised Statutes of the State of New-York. 3 vols. Albany: Printed by Packard and
Van Benthuysen, 1829.

Richards, Charles C. “An address delivered by Charles C. Richards at the Sacrament

512

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Meeting, held in . . . Salt Lake City, Utah, Sunday Evening, April 20, 1947.”
Signed typescript. LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. The Age of Jackson. Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown
and Co., 1945.

Seaman, Valentine. Pharmacoepia Chirurgica. New York: Wood, 1811.

Signor, Isaac S., et al. Landmarks of Orleans County, New York. Syracuse, NY: D.
Mason and Co., 1894.

Sillitoe, Linda, and Roberts, Allen. Salamander: The Story of the Mormon Forgery
Murders. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1988. Includes an appendix with a
forensic analysis of the Hofmann documents by George J. Throckmorton.

Skousen, Royal. “Piecing Together the Original Manuscript.” BYU Today (May
1992): 18-24.

- . “New Evidence about Book of Mormon Scribes.” Insights (January 1993): 1.

Smith, Joseph, Jr. History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B. H.
Roberts. 7 vols. 2nd ed. rev. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1948 printing.

Smith, Lucy Mack. Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors
for many Generations. Liverpool: S. W. Richards, 1853.

Spear, F. B. In Memoriam: Philetus Bennett Spear, D.D. Marquette, MI: Mining
Journal Co., 1901.

Stevenson, Edward. Reminiscences of Joseph, the Prophet and the Coming Forth of the
Book of Mormon. Salt Lake City: Edward Stevenson, 1893.

Swartzell, WiUiam. Mormonism Exposed, Being a Journal of a Residence in Missouri from
the 28th of May to the 20th of August, 1838. Pekin, OH: Published by the
Author, 1840.

Taylor, Alan. “Rediscovering the Context of Joseph Smith’s Treasure Seeking.”
Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 19 (Winter 1986): 18-28.

Tucker, Pomeroy. Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism. New York: D. Appleton
and Co., 1867.

Turner, 0[rsamus]. Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase of Western New York.
Buffalo, NY: George H. Derby and Co., 1850.

- . History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase. Rochester, NY :

W. Ailing, 1851.

Tyler, Daniel. “Incidents of Experience.” In Scraps of Biography. Tenth Book of the
Faith-promoting Series. Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1883.

Van Wagoner, Richard, and Walker, Steven. A Book of Mormons. Salt Lake City:
Signature Books, 1982.

Vogel, Dan. Indian Origins and the Book of Mormon: Religious Solutions from Columbus
to Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1986.

- . Religious Seekers and the Advent of Mormonism. Salt Lake City: Signature Books,

1988.

513

BIBLIOGRAPHY

- . “Mormonism’s ‘Anti-Masonick Bible.’” John Whitmer Historical Association

Journal 9 (1989): 17-30.

- . The Word of God: Essays on Mormon Scripture. Salt Lake City: Signature Books,

1990.

- . “James Colin Brewster: The Boy Prophet Who Challenged Mormon Author¬
ity.” In Roger D. Launius and Linda Thatcher, eds. Differing Visions: Dissenters
in Mormon History. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1994. Pp.
120-39.

- . “The Locations of Joseph Smith’s Early Treasure Quests.” Dialogue: A Journal

of Mormon Thought 27 (Fall 1994): 197-231.

- . “More on Treasure Seeking.” Letter to John H. Wittorf. Dialogue: A Journal

of Mormon Thought 28 (Winter 1995): viii-x.

Vogt, Paul L. The Sugar Refining Industry in the United States. Philadelphia: John C.
Winston Co., 1908.

Walker, John Philip, ed. Dale Morgan on Early Mormonism: Correspondence and a New
History. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1986.

Walker, Ronald W. “The Persistent Idea of American Treasure Hunting.” Brigham
Young University Studies 24 (Fall 1984): 429-59.

- . “Martin Harris: Mormonism’s Early Convert.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon

Thought 19 (Winter 1986): 29-43.

Walters, Wesley P. “New Light on Mormon Origins from the Palmyra Revival.”
Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 4 (Spring 1969): 60-81.

- . “A Reply to Dr. Bushman.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 4 (Spring

1969): 94-100.

- . “Joseph Smith’s Move to Palmyra and Manchester, N.Y.” Unpublished paper,

1987.

- . “The Joseph Smith Family’s Move to Palmyra and Manchester, N.Y.” Paper

read at Sunstone Theological Symposium, Salt Lake City, 1989.

Watson, Elden J., comp. The Orson Pratt Journals. Salt Lake City: Elden J. Watson,
1975.

Whitney, Orson F. Life ofHeber C. Kimball. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1945.

Who Was Who, 1897-1916. London: A & C Black, 1920.

Who Was Who in America: A Compact Volume of Who's Who in American History. 5
vols. Chicago: Marquis Publications, 1966.

Who Was Who in America: Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Publi¬
cations, 1967.

Wiley, Allen. “Introduction and Progress of Methodism in Southeastern Indiana.”
Indiana Magazine of History 23 (December 1927). Originally published in
Western Christian Advocate (Cincinnati), 2 October 1846.

514

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Wilson, James Grant, and Fiske, John, eds. Appletons^ Cyclopaedia of American
Biography. 1 vols. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1887.

Woodward, Charles. The First Half Century of Mormonism. 2 vols. New York, 1880.

Scrapbooks of newspaper clippings in the New York Public Library.

Wright, Carroll D. History and Growth of the United States Census. Washington, D.C.:
Government Printing Office, 1900.

Wymetal, Wilhelm Ritter von. Joseph Smith, the Prophet, His Family and His Friends.

Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing Co., 1986.

Young, Brigham, et A., Journal of Discourses of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. 26 vols. Liverpool: [Albert Carrington and others], 1853-1886.

515

INDEX

Aaron, breastplate of, 380n5
Abraham, 76, 279

Action, Middlesex County, Massachusetts,
346

Adam, 391

Adams, Amos, 475n3

Adams, John Quincy, 327

Albany, New York, 6, 49, 94n29, 139, 161,
320, 327, 336n2, 405
Albany Evening Journal, 62, 139, 327
Albion, Orleans County, New York, 218,
219

Albion, Upper Canada, 261
Albion Academy, 219
Aldrich, David S., 116, 116nl08, 376
Alhng, Joseph T., 397
Alhng, WiUiam, 397
Ailing & Cary, 370n20, 397, 397nl
Alma, book of, 384, 479, 480
Alton, New York, 264n4
America, 195, 199, 304n5, 322, 344, 368,
401

American Anti-Mormon Association, 176
Anderick, S. F., 92n27
Anderson, Fern (Cox), 265

Anderson, George Edward, 252n3, 255n8,
467

Anderson, Pdchard L., 46, 87, 208, 211n9,
396, 422, 423, 452, 487, 489, 504
Andersons, 254
Andrews, Mr., 215, 365n2

Anthon, Charles, 6, 110, 195nl8, 196,
196n20, 196n21, 283

anti-Mason(s), 5, 32n2, 65, 113, 259, 291,
291n22, 327, 331, 456. See also Ma-
son(s)

Anti- Masonic Inquirer, 65, 114, 327, 362, 376

anti-Mormon (s), 180, 218, 470
Apocrypha, 9, 340, 478
apostle(s), 123, 146n2, 192, 197, 204, 206,
241, 251, 255nll, 279, 298, 299, 315,
319, 322, 323, 330, 335, 346, 355, 481
“Arabian Nights,” 130
Arabic, 292

Ararat, Grand Island, Niagara PJver, 279n3
Arcadian Weekly Gazette, 210n5
“Articles of Agreement,” 425
Ashworth, Brent, 39
Atlantic Ocean, 283
Auburn, New York, 3, 73, 215, 365
Aurilius, New York, 335
Aurora, New York, 412nl
Avon, Livingston County, New York,
80nl7, 308, 309

B.C.A., 224

Babylon, 298

Babylonians, 213

Bainbridge. See South Bainbridge

Baldwin, Aaron M., 355

Baldwin, Edward Eugene, 180-83, 219n2

Baldwin, Eleanor (Cuyler), 169nl

Baldwin, Joseph, 180

Baldwin, Mary. See Breck, Mary (Baldwin)
Baldwin, Nathan B., 355
Baldwin, Thomas P., 138, 169, 169nl, 170,
456

Baldwin Family Genealogy, 180
Bangkok, 148

Banker’s Station, Hillsdale County, Michi¬
gan, 200

baptism, 5, 17n3, 18n4, 18n5, 18n6, 19, 23,
31, 35n6, 39, 43, 45, 72, 73, 78, 78n5,
78n7, 79, 84n7, 84n9, 108n85, 117,

517

INDEX

118, 118nll4, 124, 126, 145n26, 192,
198, 246, 246nl3, 255, 255nl2, 259,
275, 277n2, 299, 310, 315, 319, 322,
324-25, 335, 339, 346, 348, 348n8,
352, 354nll, 358n4, 360, 368,
368nl2, 369, 369nl4, 376, 377,
404n5. See also re-baptism

Baptist(s), 34, 43, 45, 53, 58, 70, 79, 84n9,
122, 129, 278, 320, 326, 336, 336n3,
337n3, 342, 343, 367, 377, 401, 453,
497

Barbarossa, Frederick, 408, 408n27

Barber, John, 312-14

Bart, Ontario County, New York, 424nl

Barton, Staffordshire, England, 381n9

Batavia, New York, 295n4

Beach, Ancil, 11, 14, 16

Be(a)man, Alvah, 101n42, 182n5, 308, 316,
336n3, 337n3, 403, 403nl, 405; helps
hide plates, 308-309, 309n2, 310-11,
336n3, 403, 403n2; sends for necro¬
mancer to find plates, 406; searches for
treasure in Ohio, 316-17

Be (a) man, Artemisia. See Snow, Artemisia
(Beaman)

Be(a)man, Mary A. See Noble, Mary A.
(Beaman)

Bean, WiUard W., 89nl5, 245, 245nll, 254,
257, 475n2
Beaver Island, 46, 47
Beckwith, Ann, 171
Beckwith, George, 497, 498, 499, 500
Bellows Falls, New York, 65n6
Belmont County, Ohio, 152
Bemis, James, 46, 495
Bennett, Charles W., 91n25

Bennett, James Gordon, 89nl4, 293; bio¬
graphical data, 281; account of early
Mormonism (1831), 281-91

Benton, Nathaniel S., 281
Benton, Ontario County, New York, 491n2
Berge, Dale L., 415
Bethany, Pennsylvania, 274

Bethel, Branch County, Michigan, 78n5

Bible, 9, 29, 40, 43, 60, 71, 75, 76, 94, 95,

105, 109, 123, 144, 162, 181, 206,

216, 282, 289, 292, 323, 338, 341,

342, 343, 347, 351, 362, 372, 375,

390, 478

Bidamon, Lewis, 145
Billings, Benjamin, 50
Binghamton Republican, 139
“Birth of Mormonism,” 186, 199
bishop(s), 265, 353, 359, 404, 404n5, 408
Bissell, Josiah, 287, 287nl3
Black, Joseph Smith, 184, 185, 467
Black Rock, Erie County, New York, 315
Blair, WiUiam W., 73
Blood, Mary, 381n9
Blood, William, 379n2, 381-82, 381n9
Blood, WiUiam, Sr., 381n9
Bolton, Hinds County, Mississippi, 180
Bond, Myron, 468
Book of Commandments, 50, 368
Book ofEsdras, 315
Book of Lehi, 479, 481
Book ofMormon, 4, 5, 6, 8, 14, 17, 22, 25,
26, 29, 31, 32, 32n2, 34, 35n4, 39, 41,
42, 43, 45, 69, 70, 71, 73, 74, 75, 83,
83n4, 84n8, 87, 105, 108, 109n89,
111, 116, 117, 119nll8, 121, 123,

126nl31, 127nl33, 132, 137, 138,

143, 145, 152, 153, 153n3, 175, 176,
177nl0, 180, 182n6, 193, 194, 197,
206, 213nl5, 216, 223, 224, 251, 267,
274, 277, 277n2, 278, 282, 286nll,
288, 289, 289nl6, 292, 294n3, 295,
298, 299, 300, 301, 304n5, 308, 310,
320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 326, 335,

336, 339, 340, 342, 343, 344, 346,

350, 351, 352, 353, 356, 358, 359,

362, 363, 365n2, 369, 378, 379n5,
383-85, 389, 390, 397, 398, 403, 408,
408n26, 497, 505; referred to as
“Gold Bible,” 5, 8, 22, 32, 41, 42, 43,
44, 45, 46, 50, 52, 53, 59, 60, 61, 64,
69, 74, 82, 99, 104, 108, 109n89, 110,

518

INDEX

112, 115, 119, 126, 127, 131, 132,
137, 141, 153, 154, 181, 214, 222,
263, 271, 274, 279, 290, 304n5, 306,
308, 328, 328nl, 330, 331, 350, 353,

368, 374, 379, 387, 387n3, 393, 394,
401, 483; printer’s manuscript of, 464;
publication of, 16, 23, 34-35, 39, 42,
45, 56, 62, 64-72, 82, 111-14,
114nl02, 143, 155, 157, 159, 161-62,
163, 192, 206-207, 215-16, 215-
16n21, 217, 221-22, 222n3, 279-80,
279n4, 290, 312n3, 327-31, 346, 348,
367, 368, 370n20, 384n5, 461, 473;
proof sheets of, 42n5, 45, 161; paper
used in printing of, 370, 397; title page
of, 121nl21, 161, 162, 164, 165,
313n7, 463nl; preface of, 121nl21,

369, 384n2, 479-82; copyright, 272,
461-63; “Agreement” with Martin
Harris concerning sale of, 53, 61, 72,
116, 418-19, 483-85; sale price of, set
by revelation, 72, 116, 121, 133; bor¬
rows from Bible, 9, 206, 298; possible
anti-Masonry in, 456; Smith instructs
Harris to transport copies of, to Ohio,
9n7, 16, 16n6. See also Rigdon, Sid¬
ney; Spaulding, Solomon

Booth, Ezra, 504, 506n3
Booth, Job, 475n3

Boston, Massachusetts, 3, 35-36n6, 186, 187,
195, 317, 346, 347

Boston Recorder, 297

Bowen, Norman R., 402

Braden, Clark, 171, 172, 173, 338n4

Braden-KeUey Debate (1884), 172

Bradford County, Pennsylvania, 354nll

Bradish, Luther, 110

Brand, E. C., 468

breastplate, Nephite, 466

Breck, Mary (Baldwin), 169

Brewster, Cynthia, 259

Brewster, Ehzabeth, 315

Brewster, James Cohn, 315-18

Brewster, Jane, 315

Brewster, Stephen, 370n20
Brewster, Zephaniah, 315, 316, 317
Brigham Young University, 42n4, 246nl3,
252, 254, 257, 402, 415
Brighton, New York, 107, 107n67, 375
British, 357
British Chapel, 353
Brodie, Fawn, 332nl
Bronk, Abraham, 259
Bronk, MitcheU, 259-60
Brooks, Job F., 490n2, 491n2
BrookviUe, Indiana, 153
Brookville Enquirer, 153, 153-54n3, 154
Broome County Courier, 293-96
Brown, Charles W., 228-34
Brownhelm, Lorain County, Ohio, 339
Bruce, EH, 3-4
Bruce, Silas, 3
Buck, A. C., 224-27
Buck, Arin C., 224nl
Buckeye, 271, 271n3
Buddy, Mr., 45, 354
Buddha, 148

Buffalo, New York, 146, 153, 162, 320, 326,
490, 504

Buffalo Courier, 208nl, 210n4, 211
Burgess, Margaret, 265
Burlington, Otsego County, New York,
319

Burnett, David S., 278-80
Burnett, Stephen, 469, 471
Burrall, Thomas Davies, 215n21; reminis¬
cence (1867), 363-65
Burroughs, Phihp, 9
Burroughs, Stephen, 93, 93n29, 148
Bushman, Prichard L., 425n3
Butler, Charles, 283, 363, 365, 365nl,
365n2, 474
Butterfield, 116nl08

Caanan (Palestine), 323

519

INDEX

Caanan, Columbia County, New York, 319,
324n7

Cadillac Weekly News, 172, 173
Cahoon, Reynolds, 300n2
CaHfomia, 55, 194, 208, 210n6, 315, 319
Californian Crusoe, The, 55
Calomel, 434n2, 438, 438n26
Cambridge, Washington County, New
York, 339

Camp, Elisha, 20, 24, 27
Campbell, Alexander, 278, 304n5
CampbeU, Alfred E., 497, 497nl, 498, 499,
500

Campbell, Robert, 84, 84n7, 84n8, 164,
165

Campbell, Thomas, 278, 278n2
CampbeUite(s), 149, 275, 278, 319, 342
Canada, 35n6, 39, 41, 42, 43, 45, 240,
261nl, 352, 474

Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York,
5, 6, 11, 13, 14, 15n3, 29, 32n2, 46,
73, 76, 79, 80, 80nl7, 90nl8, 107n67,
141, 150, 212, 213, 220, 225, 241,
277, 277n2, 282, 283, 284, 291, 330,
331n9, 370, 411, 424, 456, 456n2,
495

Canandaigua jail, 3, 4, 192nl3, 428
Canandaigua Lake, 282, 285, 294
Canandaigua Road, 233, 235, 241, 248, 249,
250, 252nl, 254n2, 282, 284n8, 386
Cannon, Angus, 466
Cannon, George Q., 319
Carr, Robert, 351
Carrington, Albert, 40
Carter, David K., 272
Carthage, Illinois, 157
Carthage, Tennessee, 299
Carthagenian, 152nl
Case & Brown, 370, 397
Catholic(s), 94n29, 383
Cavanough, Margaret, 251
Cave Hill, 249n22. See also Miner’s HiH

Cayuga Lake, New York, 194, 348

Centennial Historical Sketch of the Town of
Fayette, 210n6
Centralia, Ilhnois, 4
Chamberlain, Hope (Haskins), 18n5
Chamberlain, Louisa, 40
Chamberlain, Orrin, 9
Chamberlain, Solomon, 335, 352, 353, 354,
354n8, 359; baptism of, 18n5, 39,
43n8, 45; early history of, 39-45;
meets Hymm Smith, 41-42, 44; takes
proof sheets of Book of Mormon, 42,
45

ChampoUion, 290
Chandler, Albert, 221-23
Chapel, Parna. See Harris, Pama (Chapel)
Chapin, Henry, 13, 16
Chapin, Theodore T., 219
Chapman, Avery, 245, 245nll
Chapman, Clarissa, 91n25
Chapman, Harmon M., 419n5
Chapman, Huldah, 35n6

Chapman, Seth T., 68nl6, 91, 91n25,
245nll, 419, 419n5
Chapman, Thomas, 116

Chapman, William, 72, 72n23, 235, 235n2,
241, 245, 245nll
Chapman family, 241
Chariton River, Iowa, 35n6

Charleston, Middlesex, Massachusetts, 346,
348

Charlestown, Chester County, Pennsylva¬
nia, 404n5

Chase, Abel D., 137-38
Chase, Asa, 412

Chase, Clark, 95, 95n33, 140, 143, 148n8,
204, 239, 242, 249, 399

Chase, Mason, 95n33
Chase, Parley, 135-36
Chase, WiUard, 87, 95n32, 99n40, 102, 138,
140n6, 143, 148n8, 201, 201n2, 239,
247nl5, 337n3, 374

520

INDEX

Chicago, Illinois, 186, 187, 187nl, 199

Chicago Times, 186, 187, 192, 193, 197, 198,
199

Child, Hamilton, 361-62
China, 213

“Chosen People,” 194, 195
Church of Christ. See Church ofjesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints
Church of Christ (Disciples), 171

Church ofjesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
17, 164, 198, 210, 246nll, 255nll,
411; early history of, 17-19; organiza¬
tion of, 339, 340, 348, 385; organized
in Manchester, 17, 17n2, 57, 117,
145, 226, 246nl3; “Church of

Christ” (before 1834), 17, 301; moves
to Ohio, 19; “Church of Latter Day
Saints” (1834-38), 28, 64, 67, 72,
84n8, 88, 106, 117, 117nll3, 121,
122, 186, 241, 315, 316, 322, 337n3,
375, 399; “Chosen People,” 194. See
also Latter-day Saints; Mormon(s)

Church of the Latter Day Saints. See Church
ofjesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Church Street, 449, 496

Cincinnati, Ohio, 153

Cincinnati Advertiser and Ohio Phoenix, 274

Cincinnati Enquirer, 132

Civil War, 181, 245, 263n3

Clark, John A., 471

Clarkston, Cache County, Utah, 194nl5
Cleveland, Ohio, 139, 153, 320
Cobb, James T., 135, 137, 138n9, 139
Colburn, Sally. See Knight, SaUy (Colburn)
Coldwater, Branch County, Michigan, 221
Coldwater Sentinel, 221

Cole, Abner, 302, 335, 384; probable author
of 1831 letter to E. D. Howe, 8
Cole, Erastus, 493, 493n6
Colemere, Sarah Jane, 381n9
ColesviUe, Broome County, New York,
18n4, 117, 481, 489, 490; Hyrum
Smith moves to, 3, 78n7, 91n24, 428,

444, 502nl; branch of church organ¬
ized in, 18; baptisms at, 18, 18n4,
18n6; Joseph Jr. attempts to walk on
water in, 236n3, 392n4
Colgate University, 129
CoUins, Thadeus W., 170, 170n6
Colorado, 82
Coltrin, Zebedee, 11
Columbia College, 290
Commington, Massachusetts, 171
communitarianism, 291n21
Congregationahst(s), 13
Congress, 13, 264, 287, 291n22
Conneaut, Ohio, 145
Connecticut, 181n3
ConnersviUe, Indiana, 11
Cook, Thomas L., 116nl08, 252, 252nl,
256, 460, 475; biographical data, 243;
history (1930), 243-50
Cooperstown, New York, 478
Coote, Richard, 94n30
Cornell University, 25
Coray, Martha, 496
Cory, David, 397
Cory, David W., 397
Council Bluffs, Iowa, 381n9
Coventry, Connecticut, 85nl0
Cowdery, Keziah Pearce Austin, biographi¬
cal data on, 78n8; baptism of, 78, 79,
324n9

Cowdery, Lucy. See Young, Lucy (Cow¬
dery)

Cowdery, Lyman, 177n4, 224-26, 224n2
Cowdery, OHver, 11, 17, 30n2, 42n5, 49,
49nll, 53, 57, 60, 64, 70nl8, 72, 73,
78, 79, 82, 83, 87, 106, 117, 124, 127,
128, 132, 145, 145n26, 155, 156, 157,
158-59, 161, 162, 163, 164, 199, 216,
220, 224-26, 224n2, 241, 275nl,
275n2, 297, 346, 348, 348n3, 367,
375, 376, 400, 400n6, 401, 419, 464,
483, 485; middle initials of, 485n2;
character of, 197; teaches school in

521

INDEX

Manchester, 176, 176-77n4, 259,
400; as Smith’s scribe, 15, 22, 25, 29,
32, 51, 52, 105, 112, 165, 176, 216-
17, 219, 222, 276, 361, 368, 375, 400,
461; translates, 298; as co-author of
Book of Mormon, 368; as co-con¬
spirator with Joseph Smith, 175, 178,
178nl5; angeHc ordination of, 28, 30;
as “second elder,” 22n9; baptizes
Smith, 117nll0, 118nll6, 189n7,
368nl2; baptism of, by Smith,
118nll4, 369, 369nl4; as witness to
Book of Mormon, 57, 142, 163-64,
226, 332; visits cave in Hill Cumorah,
378, 379-82, 379-80n5, 388n7, 407-
408; prepares printer’s manuscript, 9,
66, 70, 144, 217, 464, 479, 479-80nl;
assists in publishing Book of Mormon,
113, 144, 158; buys pulpit Bible from
Grandin Book Store, 478; baptizes, in
Manchester, 118, 118nll5, 124,

325n9; in Fayette, 118-19; in Ohio,
126, 275; mission to Missouri, 319,
325, 504-506; preaches, in Ohio, 275;
in Missouri, 9, 19; receives letters
firom W. W. Phelps (1834), 28-30;
(1835), 31-33; as assistant president,
22n9; rejoins church, 408n25

Cowdery, Rebecca Maria, 78n8
Cowdery, Warren A., 42n5
Cowdery, William, 70nl8, 78n8
Cox, Emily Ann. See HiUman, Emily Ann
(Cox)

Cox, Fern. See Anderson, Fern (Cox)

Cox, Isaiah, 265
Cox, Martha (Cragun), 265
CrandaU, E. R., 222n3
Crane, George, 105, 105n55, 106, 157, 312,
313, 313n4, 313n5, 375
Crosby, Jesse W., 265
Crusoe, Robinson, 134
Culver, Aaron, 18n6
Culver, Esther (Peck), 18n6
Cummings, Elizabeth, 224
Cumorah, hill, 80nl7, 130, 141, 141nl0,

142, 150, 160, 167nl, 200, 246nl3,
259, 386, 389, 400, 400n6, 406; de¬
scription of, 282, 286, 386-87; treas¬
ure searching in, 6n4, 178, 232, 241,
282n4, 387-88, 388n6, 400, 407; no
evidence of digging in, following
Smith’s removal of plates, 178, 181n4;
plates returned to cave inside, 378,
379-82, 379-80n5, 388n7, 407-408,
408n26; stones at bottom of, believed
to be remains of box once containing
plates, 387, 387-88n3. See also “Gold
Bible HiU”; “Mormon Hill”

Cuyler, Eleanor. See Baldwin, Eleanor
(Cuyler)

Cuyler, Wilham H., 169-70
Cuyler, WiUiam Howe, 169, 169nl

Daggett, A. K., 489, 495
Daggett, Levi, 412, 418, 456, 488, 489, 490,
492-94, 492n5, 499, 499nll
Daggett, Sarah. See Wells, Sarah (Daggett)
Daniel (prophet), 160, 162, 188
Dartmouth College, 139
Dawson County, Nebraska, 176
Dayton, Ohio, 278

deacon(s), 336, 336n3, 337, 337n3, 338, 343
Dead Sea, 163
Dean Street, Rochester, 397
Deckertown, New Jersey, 221nl
Demming, Arthur, 313n5
Derryfield, New Hampshire, 47n2
Deseret Evening News, 186, 192, 251, 254
Deseret News, 40, 184, 346
Detriot, Michigan, 461
Dewey, Jed, 226
Dickenson, EUen E., 330n7
“Disciples [of Christ],” 122
Discourse Delivered in Canandaigua by Rev. A .
D. Eddy, A, 13

District Court of the United States, 461
divining rod, 97, 97n37, 140, 141
Dixon, William, 243

522

INDEX

Doctrine and Covenants, 58, 379
Doty, Lockwood R., 399-401
Dow, Lorenzo, 85, 85nl0
Drake, Cornelius, 419n5
Dunbarton, New Hampshire, 47n2
Durfee, Anne, 457
Durfee, Bailey, 417
Durfee, Gideon, 457
Durfee, Irena, 427
Durfee, Isaac, 421, 421n9, 427
Durfee, Lemuel, Jr., 15n3, 428, 486, 487
Durfee, Lemuel, Sr., 167, 244-45, 244n7,
421n9, 427, 428, 429, 444, 457-59,
486, 491-92, 502

Durfee, Mary. See Nichols, Mary (Durfee)

Durfee, OHver, 428, 486

Durfee, Phebe, 427

Durfee, Prudence, 427

Durfee, Samuel, 427

Durfee Street, 50

Durfees, 254

Dyke, Flanders, 474, 475n3

Eagle Chapter, No. 79, Palmyra, 171
Earl, Joseph L, 265
Earnest Town, Ontario, Canada, 352
East Palmyra, Wayne County, New York,
261

Eastern Presbyterian Church, Palmyra, 146
Eaton, Anna Ruth (Webster), 146-51
Eaton, Horace, 89nl5, 146, 146nl, 412
Eddy, Ansel D., 13, 16
Eddy, Casper W., 90nl8, 424
Eddy, Ira, 504
Eddyville, Nebraska, 176
Eden, 391

Eggleston, Michael, 439, 439n28
Egypt, 290
Egyptian, 6, 104, 300
Egyptians, 213

eight witnesses (to Book of Mormon), 14,

57, 121, 164, 179, 226, 226n8, 271,
304n5, 305n5, 313n7, 332-34, 350,
384, 384n2, 397nl5, 464-72, 483nl
El Paso, Texas, 258

elder(s), 145, 145n26, 245, 283, 291, 301,
319, 324, 325, 337n3, 339, 346, 348,
348n9, 404n5, 498, 499, 500
Elisha, 215

Ellery, New York, 78n8
Ellsworth, Mr., 130
Ellsworth, Philip, 130nl
Enders, Donald L., 417n3, 444nl
England, 72n23, 85nl0, 404n5
Enoch [last name unknown], 181
Enos, book of, 479nl
Episcopal (s), 40, 195
Erie Canal, 41, 43, 285
Estey, Jason, 252-53n3
Ether, book of, 384, 462
Europe, 199, 250, 338n4
Evangelical Inquirer, 278
Eve, 391

Evening and The Morning Star, The 331n9
Evertson, EHzabeth, 90nl7, 429, 429n6, 431
Evertson, Nicholas, 90nl7, 90nl8, 244n7,
424, 429, 431, 443
Exchange Row, Palmyra, 143
Exchange Street, Rochester, 397

Fairhe, Frederick, 431

Family History Library, Salt Lake City,
366nl

Far West, Missouri, 156, 470
Farmington, Ontario County, New York,
107, 181n3, 239n2, 375, 413, 415,
422, 423, 424, 424nl, 425, 434n3,
441, 493n7, 503n3
Farmington, Utah, 381
Faulring, Scott, 483nl
Faust Station, Rush Valley (UT), 359
Fayette, Seneca County, New York, 18,
72n27, 78n7, 107, 107n75, 165n24,

523

INDEX

184, 210n6, 286nll, 319, 324n6,
326nl3, 345, 375, 461, 490; Smith
family moves to, 4; branch of church
established in, 17; baptisms in, 17n3,
18n5, 39, 118-19, 118nll5, 346, 377;
first church conference (June 1830),
18n3, 145, 488; three witnesses see
plates in, 464; second conference
(September 1830), 504
Fielding, Joseph, 466

Fielding, Mary. See Smith, Mary (Fielding)
Finly, C., 440

First Baptist Church, Dayton, Ohio, 278
First Baptist Church, Manchester, 259nl,
259n2

First National Bank, Palmyra, 138n8
First Presidency, 251

Fish, Abraham, 15n3, 107, 375, 428, 460,
486, 487, 488, 489, 491
Fish, David, 15n3, 107-108, 375
Fish, Mr., 15, 15n3

Flint, Michigan, 181, 181n3, 390, 395,
395nl2

Florence, Nebraska, 346

Florida, New York, 357n2

Ford, Charles, 106, 106n61, 375

Ford, Thomas, 332-34

Forscutt, Mark H., 468

Foster, Newton, 498, 498n6, 499, 500

Foster, Philana A., 218-20

Foster, Thomas L., 219

France, 338, 347

Frederick Street, Lake View, Chicago, 187
Free Methodist Church, 264n4
Free Will Baptist Church, 43, 45
Freedom, Cattaraugus County, New York,
42n5

Gabriel, angel, 135-36
Galena, Illinois, 332
Galien, Michigan, 73
Galloway, Andrew, 387n3

Geauga County, Ohio, 483nl
Geauga Gazette, 275-76
General John Swift Memorial Cemetery,
Palmyra, 449

Genesee, New York, 80nl7
Genesee County, New York, 390nl
Genesee River, 272, 273
Genesee Valley, 425n3
Geneva, New York, 281, 282, 363, 474
George, Mr., 353
Georgetown, D. C., 85nl0
Germany, 338

Gilbert, John H., 34, 35n4, 65, 101n42,
114nl03, 115, 137, 138, 138n9, 139,
143, 143nl8, 144, 144n21, 145n23,
145n24, 150, 175, 177nl0, 179,
184nl, 200, 203, 217, 219, 249n22,
249n24, 251, 329, 376, 384n5
Godkin, Elizabeth. See Marsh, Elizabeth
(Godkin)

“Gold Bible Hill,” 141, 143, 212, 216, 237,
241, 259, 282, 286, 294, 386. Sec also
Cumorah
Gomorrah, 162
Gould, HeUen MiUer, 390
Grand Island, 279, 279n3
Grandin, Egbert B., 39, 56, 62, 64, 65, 82,
83, 113, 114, 114nl03, 115, 133, 143,
157, 161, 179, 206, 207, 219, 221,
222n3, 251, 327, 328, 329, 331, 362,
368, 370n20, 376, 384n5, 401, 461,
462, 473, 474, 475, 478, 484, 485
Granger, Francis, 291, 291n22
Gratz, Simon, 485
Graves, John, 475
Green Bay, Wisconsin, 170
Green County, New York, 327
Greene, John P., 354, 354n9, 357, 358,
358n5

Greene, Rhoda, 358, 358n5

Greenfield, Massachusetts, 169

Greenwood, John, 426

Gregg, Thomas, 46, 152, 152nl, 175, 176,

524

INDEX

313n5

Griffin, Edward D., 13
Groton, Connecticut, 34, 36
Gmnder, Rick, 42n4

Hale, Emma. See Smith, Emma (Hale)

Hale, Isaac, 117, 368, 376
Hale, Jonathan H., 355
Hale, Solomon, 355
Hall, Benjamin, 347
HaU, Levi, 18n6

Halsey, Thankful. See Pratt, Thankful (Hal-
sey)

Hambhn, Mr., 343

Hamilton, Clarissa. See Young, Clarissa
(Hamilton)

Hamilton, Hancock County, Illinois, 175

Hamilton, New York, 129

Hamiltonian Representative, 152nl

Hamhn, Mr., 320

Hammond, Beal, 251

Hampton, Illinois, 299

Hancock, Levi, 11

Hanover, New Hampshire, 94n29

Harding, Stephen S., 124-25, 313n5, 369;
biographical data, 82; letter to
Pomeroy Tucker (1867), 82-86; to
Thomas Gregg (1882), 152-66

Harmon’s Tavern, 225
Harmony, Susquehanna County, Pennsylva¬
nia, 78, 105n54, 117nll0, 142nll,
142nl3, 143nl7, 189n7, 340n2,

342n2, 348n5, 423nl, 439n27,

458n2, 458n3

Harold B. Lee Library, BYU, 402
Harrington, Nathan, 444, 489, 493, 493n7,
494, 495

Harris, Deborah (Lot), 339
Harris, Doty L., 113n97
Harris, Emer, 78n5, 476; biographical data,
339; account of early Mormonism
(1856), 339-41

Harris, George B., 475n3

Harris, George W., 113n97

Harris, Lucy, 36, 52, 109, 111, 113n97, 115,
115nl05, 131, 133, 144, 155, 192,
216, 375, 376, 394; sues husband
(March 1829), 395, 401; destroys por¬
tion of Book of Mormon manuscript,
480-81

Harris, Lucy, daughter of Martin, 113

Harris, Martin, 64, 65n6, 72, 72n23, 82, 83,
84, 87, 91n22, 106, 113n97, 117, 119,
120, 122, 124, 125, 128, 129, 132,
142nl4, 156, 159, 161, 162, 163, 164,
182n5, 194, 194nl5, 196, 199, 205-
206, 214, 215, 219, 231, 275, 284,
291, 293, 294, 295, 339, 347, 348,
356, 367, 394, 401; character of, 16,
22-23, 26, 51, 71, 77, 109, 112-13,
119nll7, 121, 152, 155, 192, 194-95,
197, 282, 285, 297, 388; as wife-
beater, 23, 26, 279n4; separates from
first wife, 23, 26, 36, 115, 155,
191nl0, 198, 394; transfers land to
wife, 115, 115nl05; vision of Jesus,
141, 194; sees strange atmospheric
phenomenon, 159-60; vision of devil,
160, 223; prophesies, ofPalmyra’s de¬
struction, 27; of world’s destruction in
1832, 35; claims healing powers, 36;
first hears of Joseph Smith’s plates,
206nll; gives Smith $50, 22, 25,
340n2; purchases a suit for Smith, 116,
116nl08; takes facsimile of characters
to learned, 6, 110, 195-96, 196nl9,
196n21, 283, 290, 295; acts as Smith’s
scribe, 52, 56, 61, 368, 400; loses
translation manuscript, 35n4, 52, 61,
112, 155, 216, 289nl5, 340, 368, 375,
481; gives account of Smith translat¬
ing plates, 197; tests Smith, 222; sued
by wife (March 1829), 395; as witness
to Book of Mormon, 6, 14, 22n9, 34,
35, 75, 142, 163-64, 178, 179, 226,
332, 375, 471; sees plates with “spiri¬
tual eyes,” 22, 26n5, 122, 332, 469;
negotiates with Grandin to pubHsh
Book of Mormon, 207, 327-28, 376,

525

INDEX

473; visits Thurlow Weed in Roch¬
ester concerning printing Book of
Mormon, 328-31, 376; finances pub¬
lication of Book of Mormon, 23, 26-
27, 34, 51, 56, 61, 65, 70, 109, 112,
114-15, 131, 133, 144, 154, 179, 192,
206-207, 216n21, 222, 223, 271,
279n4, 289-90, 298, 313, 328, 340,
340n2, 362, 367, 368, 376, 394, 401,
473-77; mortgages farm, 473-77; bap¬
tism of, 18n5, 118nll4, 118nll5,
246nl3, 369, 369nl4; expects to
profit from sale of Book of Mormon,
133-34; “Agreement” with Joseph Sr.
concerning proceeds horn Book of
Mormon sales, 53, 61, 119, 119nll8,
418-19, 483-85; apphes for loan in
Geneva, 363, 365n2; receives com¬
mand to bring Books of Mormon to
Ohio, 9, 16, 16n8; moves to Ohio,
23, 290nl9, 475; attempts to remarry
without divorcing first wife, 23, 26;
denies eight witnesses saw plates with
natural eyes, 469; apostasy of, 57; re¬
gards Miner’s Hill cave as sacred, 255,
255n8

Harris, Nathan, 113
Harris, Parna (Chapel), 339
Harris, Peter, 65n6, 115, 428, 486
Harris, Preserved, 106, 375, 476
Harris, Roxana (Peas), 339
Harrison, human, 421, 421nl0

Harz Mountains, East and West Germany,
406

Haskins, Hope. See Chamberlain, Hope
(Haskins)

Hathaway Brook, 246nl2
Havens, 116nl08

Hayward, Joseph D., 413, 420, 420n8

Heading, Mr., 353

Hebrew, 129

Hedglin, B. R., 176

Helaman, book of, 35n4, 384, 479

Hen Pack Hill, New York, 143

Hendrix, Daniel, 208-17
Henry’s Tannery, 226
Herkimer, New York, 354
Heward, Elizabeth (Terry), 261
Hewitt, Reuben, 14
high priest(s), 73, 171, 346
Hill, Judson R., 245nll
Hill, Mr., 85

Hillman, Emily Ann (Cox), 359
Hillman, Mayhew, 39, 359
Hillman, Sarah (King), 39, 359
Hillman, Silas, 39; biographical data, 359;

reminiscence (1866), 359-60
Himes, Joshua V., 34n2
Hine, Rene, 481
Hine, WiUiam R., 481
Historical Society and Museum, Salt Lake
City, 165

Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 485
A History of HUnois, 332
“History of Mormonism,” 138
History of Ontario County, 13
History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and
Gorham’s Purchase, 46
Hogan, Mervin, 453
Holden, Edwin, 80nl7
Holet, J. [Daneve?], 492
Holman, Joshua Sawyer, 316, 316n3
Holt, Edward, 386, 386n2, 387
Home Missionary Society, 497nl
Hooper, Jane Wilkie, 381n9, 381nl0
Hopkinton, Massachusetts, 350, 351, 358n4
Horace Greeley, 221nl
Horton, Caleb, 181n3
Horton, Ebenezer, 181n3
Horton, James G., 181, 181n3, 182n5
Horton, Joseph, 181n3
Ho tchkin, James H., 13
Hounsfield, Jefferson County, New York,
24

House, Mrs., 148

526

INDEX

House of Representatives, 263
Howard, Luther, 221
Howe, Abigail (Nabby), 358n4
Howe, Eber D., 5, 8, 138, 302-307, 390,
480, 506n3

Howe, Henry, 312-14
Howe, Janies, 25, 27n6
Howell, Isaac, 448

HoweU, Nathaniel W., 11, 13, 14, 16
Howkins,J., 319
HubbeU, Walter, 11, 13, 14, 16
Hudson River, 405
Hurlbut, John, 420

Hurlbut, Philastus, 20, 87, 169, 251, 302,
304n3, 304n5, 396nl3, 452, 456, 480,
488, 497n2

Hussee, Isaac, 428, 486
Hussy (Hussey, Huzzy), WiUiam T., 102,
133, 374, 456
Hyde, Heman, 42n5
Hyde, John, 195, 195nl6
Hyde, Wilbam, 186-99
Hydesville, New York, 146n2

lUinois, 106, 145, 152, 175, 332, 354n9
Illinois Historical Society Library, 25
Illinois Patriot, 292
Illustrations of Masonry, 295n4
Ind, 149

Independence, Missouri, 156, 299, 300, 331
Indian Ocean, 94n30
Indiana, 153, 163

Indians, 29, 101, 104, 126, 149, 203, 278,
279n3, 325, 326, 374, 504, 505
IngersoU, Byron, 390, 390nl, 391, 395, 396
IngersoU, Catherine (“Kate”) (Todd), 392
IngersoU, Mary (Nelson), 390nl
IngersoU, Peter, 106, 138, 177, 177n7,
182n5, 375, 426, 446n2; reminis¬
cence of Joseph Smith, 390-96; helps
Smith make fake plates, 393, 393n6;
testifies at Lucy Harris suit (March

1829), 395, 395n9
IngersoU, Samuel, 390nl
IngersoU, Sara MeUssa (Barber), 390-96
Inspired Version of Bible, 478
interpreters, Nephite. See seer stone(s); urim
and thummim
Irish, 383
Isaiah, 105, 375
Israel, 29
Italy, 338

Ivins, Stanley S., 186

Jackson, Andrew, 5, 170, 281
Jackson, Esther, 129
Jackson, Mississippi, 181
Jackson County, Missouri, 17, 39
Jackson Street, 420n8
JacksonviUe, lUinois, 292
Jackways, David, 490
Jacob, book of, 384, 479nl
Jared, brother of, 306n7
Jaredites, 462
Jarom, book of, 480nl
Jefferson, Mark, 233, 235
Jefferson County, New York, 24
Jefferson Republican, 24
Jenkins, Lewis, 11, 16
Jennings, Margaret, 446, 448
Jennings, Samuel, 47n4, 89nl6, 91n23,
244n4, 412, 416, 416nl, 417, 419,
419n5, 420, 423, 426, 444, 446-48
Jenson, Andrew, 184, 185, 467
Jeremiah, prophet, 105, 375
Jerusalem, 306

Jerusalem, Ontario County, New York,
493n6

Jessee, Dean C., 39
Jessup, Henry, 498, 499, 500
Jesus Christ, 17, 31, 41, 43, 77, 105, 123,
141, 322, 343, 344, 356, 463
John, apostle, 41

527

INDEX

Johnson, Benjamin F., 356
Johnson, Luke, 465
Johnson Street, 89nl5, 412
Jolly, Elizabeth, 18n5
JoUy, Vincent, 18n5
JoUy, William, 18n5
Jones Street, Rochester, 397
Joseph, patriarch, 321, 322
Journal of Discourses, 337n3
‘Journal History,” 210
Judea, Palestine, 323

Kalamazoo Gazette, 221
Kane, E. Kent, 402

Kane, Elizabeth Dennistoun (Wood),
337n3; biographical data, 402; inter¬
views Utah pioneers (1872-73), 402-
408

Kane, Evan, 402, 408n28
Kane, Thomas L., 402
Kane, WiUiam, 402, 408n28
Kaysville, Utah, 381n9
Keith, Scotland, 281
Kelley, E. L., 173

Kelley, William H., 200, 201, 201nl
Kesler, Donnetta (Smith), 265

Kidd, William, 93-94, 94n30, 130, 148, 149,
154, 272, 303, 407

KimbaU, Heber C., 164, 310, 356, 380n5,
404, 405nl2, 453; biographical data,
355; autobiography (1864), 355-58
Kimball, Stanley B., 356
Kimball, Vilate (Murray), 355, 357, 357n2,
358

King’s Daughters Free Library, Palmyra, 411,
433

Kingston, Ontario, Canada, 352, 353
Kirtland, Geauga County, Ohio, 16n8, 18,
35n6, 45, 47, 54, 58, 72, 72n27, 109,
122, 126, 128, 142nl4, 145, 156, 192,
217, 226, 242, 264, 275, 298, 299,
308, 309, 310, 315, 316, 316n3, 317,

319, 339, 346, 349, 350, 354n9, 355,
359, 360, 370, 377, 379n2, 382,
382nll, 395, 395nll, 401, 405nll,
469, 470, 490
Kirtland Bank, 315
Kissam, Benjamin, 424
Kissam, ComeHa, 424

Knight, Esther. See Stringham, Esther
(Knight)

Knight, Joseph, Jr., 18n6

Knight, Joseph, Sr., 18n4, 57, 57nl2,
101n42, 117nl09, 145, 145n26,

246nl3, 337n3, 356, 418, 473; bap¬
tism of, 18n6, 145n26
Knight, Newel, 339, 428
Knight, PoUy, 18n6
Knight, Polly (Peck), 18n6
Knight, SaUy (Colburn), 18n6
Kommer, Andrew H., 233, 249n22

L. F. C., 192

Laban, sword of, 379n5, 380-81, 380n5, 382,
388n7, 408, 408n26
Lake, William, 45
Lake Erie, 294
Lake Ontario, 52, 228
Lakey, Carl, 475n2

Lakey, Thomas, 9n7, 115nl06, 474-75,
475n2, 484

Lamanites, 104, 126, 353, 375, 462, 504,
505, 505nl

lampblack, 436, 436nl6, 437, 438
Lancaster, Massachusetts, 3
Lansing, Richard Ray, 461, 462, 463
Latin, 8, 129

Latter-day Saints, 36, 43, 109, 187, 199, 222,
223, 263, 344, 367. See also Mor¬
mon (s)

Lawrence, Samuel T. (F.), 106, 177, 186,
337n3, 375
Lee, Ann, 48
Lee, LaFayette C., 265

528

INDEX

Liberty, Missouri, 28, 31
Library of Congress, 461
“Life of Stephen Burroughs,” 148

Lima, Livingston County, New York, 347,
350

Lima, Ontario County, New York,
108n84

Limhi, King, 305n5
Lincoln, Abraham, 82
Linn, WiUiam, 221, 221nl
Literary Cabinet, The, 152nl
Little York, Ontario, Canada, 261
Liverpool, England, 402
Livingston County, New York, 399
Livonia, Livingston County, New York,
308, 336n3, 403, 403nl, 403n4
Loborough, Ontario, Canada, 352
Lockport, New York, 41, 43, 46
Lockport Balance, 46, 297-98
Lockport Observatory, 46
Logan, Cache County, Utah, 339
London, England, 94n30, 163, 195
Long, Martha. See Peck, Martha (Long)
Long Island, New York, 346
Lorain County, Ohio, 108
Los Angeles County, California, 211
Lot, Deborah. See Harris, Deborah (Lot)
Louisiana, 85nl0
Lovett, 116nl08
Lucifer's Lantern, 180
Ludwig, Allen L, 449
Lund, Terry, 261

Lyme, Grafton County, New Hampshire,
243

Lyons, Wayne County, New York, 32,
32n2, 39, 41n2, 64, 140, 140n8, 170,
210, 210n5, 352, 395n9
Lyons Gazette, 140n8
Lyonstown, New York, 347

Macedon, New York, 84n9, 105, 107,

108n83, 124nl27, 313n4, 329, 375,
411, 476

McAuley (Macaully), Thomas, 384, 384n5
McDowall, John R., 288nl4
McDowalVs Journal, 288nl4
McIntosh, W. H., 366-77, 453
McIntosh, Walter H., 366nl
McIntyre, Alexander, 171-72, 434n2,

435n9, 456, 490
McIntyre, Alexander, Sr., 171
McIntyre, Elizabeth (Robinson), 171
McLeUin, Cynthia, 299
McLelHn, EmeHne (Miller), 299, 301
McLeUin, Samuel, 299
McLeUin, WiUiam E., 299-301; biographical
data, 299

McMillin, 310

Madison County, New York, 140n8
Madison Theological Seminary, 129
Madison University, 129
Magdalen Reports, 288, 288nl4
Mahomet, 165, 289, 295, 303

Main Street, 47n3, 89nl5, 411, 412, 413,
415, 420, 421nll, 433, 446, 449, 460,
496

Maine, 470

Manchester, Dearborn County, Indiana,

Manchester, England, 187

Manchester, Ontario County, New York,
14, 15, 15n3, 18, 20, 47, 47n4, 48, 64,
70nl8, 87, 90nl8, 90n20, 91n23, 97,
108, 108n86, 127, 133, 138n9,
141nl0, 154n3, 165n25, 169, 173n2,
176n4, 177n4, 177nl0, 181n3,

182n5, 184, 193, 200, 210n6, 224,
224, 226, 226n6, 228, 235, 237, 241,
242, 244n7, 246nl2, 248, 248n21,
252nl, 252n3, 254, 257, 258, 258n4,
259, 259nl, 259n2, 260, 263, 265,
282, 284, 286, 286nll, 302n2, 308,
310, 312, 324, 324n8, 326nl3, 335,
336n2, 343, 361, 366, 378, 386, 399,

529

INDEX

403n2, 413, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419,
420, 423, 424, 424nl, 427, 427n4,
429, 434n3, 439n27, 452, 457, 458n2,
480, 481, 482, 485, 487, 488, 490,
491n2, 492n4, 494, 496, 502nl, 504;
Smiths move to, 89, 89nl6, 140,
140n7, 302, 446; contract for land in,
90; build cabin in, 68, 90, 244n4,
416-20, 428, 443-44, 489, 502; build
frame house in, 90-91, 245; Smith
family’s activities associated with land
in, 424-31; Smiths listed in, assess¬
ment records of, 441-45, 491n2; road
lists of, 452; 1820 census of, 422-23,
425; 1830 census of, 502-503; hiU
(Cumorah) located in, 6, 104, 188n7,
297, 374, 406; plates found in, 67;
eight witnesses see plates in, 332, 464,
468; suits against the Smiths in, 487-
95; church organized in, 17, 17n2, 57,
145, 145n25, 226, 226n7, 246nl3;
Hymm Smith preaches in, 74, 76,
78n7; baptisms performed at,
118nll5, 246, 246nl3, 255, 255nl2,
324, 325n9; “Missionaries Covenant”
drawn up and signed in, 505; mission¬
aries leave horn, 275, 504; statement
of an unidentified resident of (1856),
59-61; statements of unidentified resi¬
dents of (1893), 203-207
Manlius, Onondaga County, New York,
353

“Manuscript Found,” 131
Marietta, Ohio, 293
Marion, New York, 129
Marion Enterprise, 129, 130
Markham, Stephen, 359
Marsh, Elizabeth (Godkin), 346
Marsh, Thomas B., biographical data on,
346; autobiography (1857), 346-49
Marshall, Elihu F., 62, 65, 114, 327, 329,
329n3, 376, 397; biographical data,
65n6

Marshall's Spelling Book of the English Lan¬
guage, 65n6

Martin, Dudley, 77

Mason(s), 3, 46, 103n50, 171, 295n4, 452-
56, 492n5. See also anti-Mason(s)
Massachusetts, 42, 245, 346, 348n2
Mather, Frederick G., 139, 355
Matthew, gospel of, 105, 119nll7, 375
May, Mary, 65n6
Memoirs of My Own Life, 94n29
Mendon, New York, 335, 355, 357,
358n4

Mentor, Ohio, 5, 108, 122, 126, 149, 275,
504

Merrimack River, 47, 47n2, 366
Mesmerism, 338n4
Messenger and Advocate, 28, 30n2, 31
Methodist(s), 11, 40, 42, 43, 45, 48, 50,
50nl5, 76, 79, 80, 85nl0, 132, 155,
162, 335, 337, 347, 350, 353, 354,
357, 366, 372, 400, 400n8, 406, 497
Mexico, 265

Michigan, 78n5, 221, 461
Middletown, Essex County, Massachusetts,
21n3

Milan, Indiana, 82, 152, 153, 165
Millennial Star, 350nl
millennium, 300

Miller, Emeline. See McLeUin, Emeline
(MiQer)

Miller, Morris S., 461
MiUiken, Charles F., 241-42
Miner, A. M., 251
Miner, Amos, 112, 248, 251
Miner, Chauncey, 232, 251
Miner, WaUace W., 174, 248, 248nl9,
248n21; reminiscence (1930), 251-
53; statement (1932), 254-56
Miner Road, 233nl0, 254n2
Miner’s Hill, Manchester, 6n4, 173-74,
173n2, 251; Smiths dig cave in, 232-
33, 235, 237, 248, 255; description of,
233, 233nl2, 235, 248n21, 249n22;
Joseph Smith translates in cave, 112,
202, 210n6, 216, 361, 362, 362n7,

530

INDEX

375; and holds secret meetings in,
232-33

Missionaries Covenant, 326nl3, 419, 504-
506

Mississippi River, 296

Missouri, 142, 194, 275, 310, 316n3, 332,
346, 359, 395nll, 470, 504, 505nl

MitcheU, Peter, 224, 224n3, 490nl
Mitchell, Samuel L., 6, 110, 195, 195nl8,
196, 283, 290, 295
Monroe, Sevier County, Utah, 265
Monroe County, New York, 356
Monroe County Bible Society, 287nl3

Montezuma Marsh, Ontario County, New
York, 80

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 404
Morgan, Dale, 274, 275, 490
Morgan, John, 108, 108n84, 375
Morgan, William, 3, 46, 47, 291n22, 295,
295n4, 327, 456
Mormon, book of, 35n4, 384
Mormon (person), 51, 52, 61, 67, 69, 368,
387, 400, 479, 481

Mormon(s), 3, 9n7, 11, 14, 20, 21, 22, 23,
24, 25, 32, 46, 47, 53, 55, 72, 73,
80nl7, 83, 84, 85, 87, 90, 108n86,
109, 111, 112, 115, 117, 119, 124,
125, 126, 127, 130, 142, 144nl9, 154,
164, 169, 170, 176, 182n6, 185,
195nl6, 206, 220, 225, 237, 246,
255n8, 264, 318, 332, 335, 356, 370,
381n9, 402, 405nl2, 408, 480. See also
Latter-day Saints

Mormon Delusions and Monstrosities, 34

“Mormon HiU,” 47, 50, 51, 53, 60, 104, 129,
138n8, 141nl0, 167, 167nl, 228, 232,
233, 241, 248, 250, 255, 263, 367,
374, 386. See also Cumorah

Mormonism, 3, 5, 6, 11, 24, 31, 39, 42n5,
45, 46, 49, 55, 57, 59, 62, 65, 66,
67, 69, 72, 83n3, 86, 87, 88, 93, 99,
115, 115nl05, 124, 125, 129, 140,
141, 143, 146, 148, 149, 150, 151,
153, 163, 165n25, 174, 175, 176,

187, 191, 192, 193, 197, 198, 210n5,
216, 218, 224, 237, 241, 243, 259,

260, 278, 282, 283, 284, 285, 288,

293, 299, 310, 312, 328, 329, 332,

335, 336, 339, 342, 343, 352, 354,

357, 359, 361, 366, 369, 371, 373,

377, 389, 390, 391, 394, 396, 398,

399, 412

Mormonism: Its Leaders and Designs, 195nl6
Mormonism Unvailed, 302, 390
“Mormonism Unveiled,” 390
Morning Courier and New-York Enquirer, 275,
281, 282, 293

Moroni, angel, 141, 190, 248, 358
Moroni (person), 387, 462
Morris, Robert, 4
Morris, Thomas, 424
Moses, 215

Mosiah, book of, 384, 479
Mouch, S. T., 468

Mount Moriah Masonic Lodge, Palmyra, 62,
103n50, 171, 452-56, 492n5

Mt. Sinai, 255n8
Mt. Zion, 255n8
Mud Creek, Palmyra, 154
Murray, Fanny (Young), 351, 351n5, 357
Murray, RosweU, 351n5, 357n2
Murray, Susannah, 357n2
Murray, Vilate. See Kimball, VHate (Mur-
ray)

Musselman, Mary. See Whitmer, Mary
(Musselman)

Nasmith, Jared S., 129
National Republicans, 291n22

Nauvoo, Illinois, 47, 54, 56, 58, 84n7, 145,
156, 164, 217, 220, 310, 331, 359,
368-69, 381n9, 395nll, 404n5, 453,
456

Neal, R. B., 176

Needham, Massachusetts, 492n5

Nelson, Ohio, 504

531

INDEX

Nephi (person), 51, 61, 67, 69, 368, 369, 400
Nephi, books of, 116, 123, 124, 271, 384,
408n26, 479
Nephi, plates of, 160
Nephites, 104, 118, 375, 378, 462, 465
Nesbitt, Doris, 411
New Castle, Indiana, 1 1
New England, 85nl0, 204, 285, 294, 406,
449, 481

New Hampshire, 146
New Hampshire Miscellany, 292
New Jersey, 85nl0

New Jerusalem, Missouri, 504, 505, 505nl
New Mexico, 315

New Testament, 9, 94, 105, 134, 166, 275,
478

New World, 321

New York, 55, 59, 78n5, 85nl0, 88,
94n30, 141, 181, 215n20, 266, 278,
279n3, 281, 283, 284, 287, 288,
289, 291, 291n22, 293, 295, 301,
302, 302n2, 310, 316, 316n3, 322,
324, 326nl3, 332, 346, 347, 355,
356, 359, 363, 377, 382nll, 403n2

New York, New York, 6, 71n21, 72n24,
90nl8, 94n30, 1 10, 195nl8, 196, 259,
281, 288nl4, 290, 297, 327, 330, 394,
424, 426, 431, 461

New York Central, 146
New York Commercial Advertiser, 327
New York Evangelist, 297
New York Evening Post, 221nl

New York Herald, 89nl4, 200, 235n2,
249n22, 281

New York Life Insurance and Trust Com¬
pany, Geneva, 363, 365, 474
New York Public Library, 281
New York State Assembly, 327, 499nl2
New York Times, 187, 208n2, 210, 210n6
New York Tribune, 221nl
New York Trust Company, 290
Newark, New Jersey, 13, 59

Newark, New York, 129, 210n5, 320
Niagara River, 279n3
Niagara Sentinel, 46

Nichols, Mary (Durfee), 167, 427, 428
Nichols, Roswell, 428
Nichols, Simeon, 107, 375
Nickerson, Freeman, 35, 35-36n6
Nimshi, 271, 271nl
Noah, Mordecai M., 279n3
Noble, Joseph B., 308, 310-11

Noble, Mary A. (Beaman), 308-309, 310,
403n2

NorreU, W. O., 180, 181, 181n2
Northampton, Massachusetts, 94n29
Northern District of New York, 461, 463
Northrop, 273
Norton, Ohio, 28

Norwich, Vermont, 88n4, 88n5, 139, 203,
243n2, 302n2, 371n2, 412
Nova Scotia, 281

Odinga, L. E., 186, 187n3, 191nl0, 199
Ogden, David B., 90nl7, 429, 429n7, 431
Ogden, Utah, 346

Ohio, 60, 71n21, 72, 72n25, 78n5, 100n42,
119, 120, 120nll9, 125, 164, 165,
192, 198, 208, 278, 282, 284, 285,
286, 288, 289, 291, 293, 294, 295,
319, 326nl3, 332, 367, 368, 375, 377,
401, 475

Ohio Star, 504, 506n3
Old Academy, Palmyra, 421 nil
Old Canaan, Connecticut, 39
“Old Sharp” (hiU), 248, 249, 252, 252nl
Old Testament, 9, 94, 105, 134, 166, 306n7,
478

Ontario, San Bernardino County, CaHfor-
nia, 210, 210n6, 211n7

Ontario County, New York, 13, 140,
224n2, 245, 248, 284, 288, 292, 298,
300, 306, 363, 365, 371, 427n4, 441,
453, 456n2, 502nl

532

INDEX

Ontario County Court of Common Pleas,
490n2

Ontario County Courthouse, 441
Ontario County Historical Society, 441
Ontario County Records Center and Ar¬
chives, 441

Ontario Lodge, No. 23, Canandaigua, 456

Ontario Messenger, 220

Ontario Phoenix, 5, 283, 331n9

Ontario Repository, 220, 422

Ontario Savings Bank, 13

Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, 465

O’Reilly, Henry, 383-85

Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism, 222

“Origin of Mormonism, The” 146

Ormus, 149

Orr, Robert, 108, 108n82, 375
Osgood, Carlos P., 237-38, 257-58
Osgood, Daisy, 237
Oswego, New York, 353
Overton, Nevada, 265

Pacific Ocean, 196

Page, Catherine (Whitmer), 18n5

Page, Hiram, 107, 315, 375, 464, 467, 472;

baptism of, 18n5, 118, 369
Page, Mary, 18n5
Page, Philander, 467

Painesville, Geagua County, Ohio, 9n7, 277,
285, 290, 294, 296, 302
Painesville Telegraph, 5, 8, 275nl, 278, 278n2
Palmer, Mrs., 265-67
Palmer, Pdchard, 411
Palmyra, Utah, 359

Palmyra, Wayne County, New York, 8, 9n7,
16, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 32n2, 34,
39, 41, 46, 47, 47n3, 47n4, 49, 49nl2,
50, 50nl5, 51, 53, 55, 56, 57, 61, 62,
64, 70, 72, 82, 83, 83n4, 84n9, 85, 87,
88, 88n4, 88nl3, 89, 89nl5, 89nl5,
93, 94, 95, 96, 106, 108, 109, 113,
114, 116, 116nl08, 117, 120, 121,

124, 128, 129, 130, 133, 137, 138,
138n8, 138n9, 140, 140n7, 140n8,
141, 142, 143, 145, 146, 146nl,
146n2, 150, 150nl7, 152, 153, 154,
155, 157, 159, 161, 163, 164, 165,
166, 169, 169nl, 171, 175, 176n4,
177, 177n4, 177nl0, 181n3, 182n5,
184, 185n2, 186, 187, 188, 190, 191,
191nl0, 193, 198, 200, 206, 208,
210n5, 211, 212, 213, 215n21, 216,
219, 220, 222, 223, 225, 235, 241,

242, 243, 248, 251, 252, 254, 256,

257, 259, 261, 263, 264, 271, 275,

278, 278nl, 282, 284, 285, 286,

286nll, 290, 294, 297, 308, 312, 313,
314, 320, 321, 324, 328, 330, 331,
335, 336n2, 346, 347, 348, 359, 361,
362, 365, 366, 367, 371, 371n3, 372,
375, 376, 384, 386, 391, 395, 397,
400n6, 412nl, 413, 415, 416nl, 417,
417n3, 418, 419, 420, 420n6, 421nl 1,
423, 429, 433, 446nl, 448, 453, 456,
457, 459n4, 460, 461, 462, 473, 474,
475, 476, 481, 489, 490, 492n5, 496,
497n2, 498n4, 502; Smiths move to,
87, 139, 203, 243, 243n3, 302n2, 371,
399, 416; Samuel Jennings cabin lo¬
cated in, 243-44, 244n4, 415-21,
444nl, 446; Smiths listed in road re¬
cords of (1817-22), 411-14; Joseph Jr.
searches for treasures in, 66, 204;
Alvin buried in, 449; reHgious revival
in (1824-25), 94n31, 406-407; Book
of Mormon printed in, 42, 45, 56, 65,
113, 161, 197, 279, 289, 295, 328,
329, 346, 368, 464, 480; Pdgdon
preaches in, 70, 122, 122nl24, 377;
Harris and other Mormons predict
destruction of, 27, 143; Old Academy
of, 421nll; Masonic lodge records of,
452-56; statement of unidentified
residents (1831), 8-10; a resident’s
reminiscence (ca. 1876), 132-34;

statement of unidentified resident
(1888), 184-85; statements of uniden¬
tified residents (1893), 203-207; resi¬
dent reminiscence (n.d.), 263-64

533

INDEX

Palmyra Courier, 62, 167
Palmyra Historical Society, 411
Palmyra Post Office, 186
Palmyra Reflector, 8, 10, 125nl28, 162n21,
286nll, 302, 304n5
Palmyra Register, 46, 49, 62
Palmyra and Vicinity, 243, 256
Palmyra Young Men’s Association, 70,
122nl24, 377
Panaca, Nevada, 265
Paris, France, 405
Paris, Illinois, 299, 300, 301
Parker, SaUy, 470
Parkers, 254
Parrish, Warren, 469
Partridge, Edward, 17
Paterson, Lydia, 492n5
patriarch(s),72, 117, 117nll3, 120, 127, 339
Paul, apostle, 18, 29

Payne, Samantha (Stafford), 173-74, 248n21

Peas, Roxana. See Harris, Roxana (Peas)

Peck, Esther. See Culver, Esther (Peck)

Peck, Hezekiah, 18n6

Peck, Martha (Long), 18n6

Peck, PoMy. See Knight, PoUy (Peck)

peep stone. Sec seer stone(s)

Penh eld, New York, 273
Pennsylvania, 70, 72, 116, 117, 118, 126,
127, 141, 150, 173, 177, 192, 204,
306, 321, 324, 343, 368, 376, 377,
404, 404n5
Peoria, Illinois, 332
Perrine, Mrs., 20
Perry, Ohio, 116nl07
Peterson, Richard (Ziba) B., 80, 106, 275,
275n2, 319, 325, 419, 504, 505, 506,
506n3; baptism of, 18n5, 375
Phelps, New York, 107, 286, 375
Phelps, WiUiam W., 30n2, 283, 291, 330;
meets Joseph Smith, 5, 7n9, 31,
277n2, 380n5; interviews Sidney
Bigdon, 7, 7n9; imprisoned in Lyons,

32, 32n2; dream/vision of, 30n3;
writes letter to E. D. Howe (1831),
5-7; to Ohver Cowdery (1834), 28-
30; and (1835), 31-33; publishes ac¬
count of early church history (1833),
17-19; edits church newspaper in
Missouri, 331n9

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 195, 263n3, 402
[Pick?], Lamar, 493

Pierce, Darius, 233, 233nl3, 235, 238nl,
257

Pierce, Ezra, 237, 248n21
Pierce, Nathan, 15n3, 225, 233, 233nl3,
259, 418, 428, 444, 483nl, 486, 487-
95

Pierce, Perry Benjamin, 389
Pilkington, WiUiam, Jr., 475n2
PiUar Point, New York, 24
Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase of West¬
ern New York, 46
Plataua, New York, 358n5
plates (gold), 6, 15, 15n3, 22, 25, 26, 35, 51,
53, 56, 61, 66, 67, 83, 91n22, 100n42,
101, 102, 104, 105, 110, 111, 121,

126, 133, 135, 137, 141, 142, 143,

146n2, 150, 153, 154n3, 164, 178n,
182n5, 188n7, 190, 192, 193, 194,
195, 196nl9, 198, 200, 201n2, 202,
204, 206nll, 206nl2, 212, 213, 214,
215, 216, 219, 220, 222, 226, 232,

233, 237, 248, 257, 263, 271, 272,

275, 276, 282, 288, 289, 290, 292,

295, 298, 303, 305, 308, 312n3, 314,
320, 355, 356, 361, 363, 364, 367,

368, 378, 386, 389, 392, 395, 400,

400n6, 400n8, 405, 407, 407n23, 456,
460; “plates of Nephi,” 160, 304n5,

369, 382; plates of Lehi, 479, 481;
description of, 189, 189n9, 276, 279,
292, 300, 304-305n5, 374-75, 408;
leaves could be lifted, 182n5; made
metaUic sound, 182n5; originaUy in¬
tended as history of hidden treasures,
8, 135, 135 n2; attempts by fortune-
teUer to divine hiding place of, 335-

534

INDEX

38; hidden under Smiths’ hearth, 102,
309n2, 310, 336n3, 340, 374, 403,
403n2; in barrel of beans, 126, 143,
302, 306, 340; belief that Smith sub¬
stituted, with a box filled with sand,
181-82, 182n5, 218-19, 393, 393n6,
395n9; with a tile-brick, 103, 178;
uncertainty about metallic composi¬
tion of, 304, 304-305n5; translation
of, 189, 300, 306; facsimile of charac¬
ters copied from, 6-7, 52, 110, 196,
196nl9, 276, 283, 290, 295; seen by
three witnesses, 333, 464; by eight
witnesses, 332, 333, 464-71; returned
to cave in Hill Cumorah, 379-82,
379-80n5, 388n7, 407-408

PlattsviUe, Wisconsin, 129

Pomfret, Chautauqua County, New York,
356

Pomona, California, 210n5, 217
Pomona VaUey, California, 210

Port Gibson, Wayne County, New York,
263, 263n2, 263n3

Porter, Larry C., 40, 435n9, 444nl
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 186, 187
Post, Stephen, 315

Poulson, M. Wilford, 246nl3, 252, 254,
257, 453

Poulson, P. Wilhelm, 465nl, 468
Poultney, Vermont, 78n8
Pratt, Jared, 324

Pratt, John R., 246nl3, 257, 481
Pratt, Kenzia, 319
Pratt, Parley P., Jr., 319

Pratt, Parley P., Sr., 73, 78n5, 79-80, 108,
109, 126, 127, 165, 165n25, 275,
275n2, 356, 375, 418, 419, 504, 505,
506, 506n3; biographical data, 319;
Autobiography (ca. 1854), 319-26;
reminiscence (1856), 342-45

Pratt, Thankful (Halsey), 319

Presbyterian(s), 32, 89nl5, 94n31, 171, 211,
265, 287nl3, 288nl4, 297, 337, 412,
433, 492n5, 496-501

priest(s), 45nl4, 145n26, 337, 338, 352
priesthood, 28, 30, 40, 117, 141, 310, 317,
322, 343, 344, 352
Princeton University, 14
Proper, DoUy, 106, 118, 118nll5, 325n9,
369, 375

Proper, George, 106, 325n9, 375
Provo, Utah, 39, 40, 339
Puke, 271n2
Pukei, 271

Pulsipher, Esther, 265

PultneyviUe, New York, 107, 335, 336n2,
375, 405nl2

Quaker(s), 65n6, 77, 105, 109, 155, 157,
313, 313n5, 329, 375, 457
Quance, King H., 108, 108n83, 375
Quietists, 347
Quincy, Illinois, 358n4
Quinn, D. Michael, 95n32, 335, 336-37n2,
338n4, 405nl5, 423nl, 436nl6

Randolph, Vermont, 73

Rangdon, Henry. See PJgdon, Sidney

Reading, Michigan, 175, 176

rebaptism, 352

Red Creek, Palmyra, 476

Red Sea, 94n30

Reed, Parson, 211, 211n9

Reeves, James, 475

Reformed Baptists, 326

“Reformed Egyptian,” 305, 353

Reformers, 122

Reminiscences, 386

Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints, 73, 132, 251, 299, 468
Richards, Charles Comstock, 481
Richards, Franklin D., 481
Richards, Robert, 55
Pdchmond, Missouri, 142, 144
Pagdon, Sidney, 6, 50, 53, 58, 70-71, 72,

535

INDEX

72n24, 72n28, 109, 116, 116nl07,
124, 126, 127, 128, 165, 165n24,
214nl7, 215, 256, 277n2, 284, 289,
291, 293, 315, 319, 326, 367, 369nl2,
391, 396; conversion to Mormonism,
504; baptism of, 275, 275nl; arrival in
Fayette, 286nl 1; preaches in Palmyra,
70, 122, 122nl24, 177, 214, 377; in
Canandaigua Courthouse, 80, 80nl7,
277n2; intervie\ved by W. W. Phelps,
7, 7n9, 32n2; visions of, while in New
York, 215, 215n20; rumored affair
with Katharine Smith, 71n21, 125; as
speculated co-conspirator with Joseph
Smith, 122, 131, 137, 137n2, 145,
149, 150, 175, 178, 178nl5, 192,213,
216, 282, 286, 286nll, 290, 295, 368;
assumed author of Book of Mormon,
67nl2, 192, 289nl6, 290, 295, 368,
401; linked with unidentified visitor
at Smith residence (1827-28), 100,
100n42, 111-12, 137, 149, 177,
177n4, 177-78nl0, 206; incorrecdy
associated with treasure-seeking ac¬
tivities in Manchester (1827), 285-86,
294, 294n3; incorrectly beheved to
have officiated at Joseph and Emma’s
wedding, 117, 376; and Smith’s bap¬
tism, 117, 118, 368, 368nl2, 377,
377n25

Rincon, San Bernardino County, California,
210, 210n5

Ripley County, Indiana, 82
Risley, Sally, 108, 108n86, 375
Riverside County, California, 210
Rob and His Gun, 221nl
Roberts, Brigham H., 263
Robinson, Anson, 104, 104n52, 141nl0,
250

Robinson, Cain C., account books of, 432-
40

Robinson, Edwin H., 433
Robinson, Gain C., 171; biographical data,
433; account books of, 432-40
Robinson, James, 499, 499n9

Robinson, Morgan, 68, 68nl6, 245, 245nll
Robinson, RandaU, 104n52, 141 nlO, 250
Rochester, Monroe County, New York, 41,
62, 65, 65n6, 114, 133, 163, 207, 208,
251, 259, 287, 287nl3, 320, 328, 356,
362, 370n20, 376, 383, 384, 397, 406,
453; treasure seeking at, 271, 272-73,
473; treasure-seeking company ffom,
digs in HiQ Cumorah, 387, 388,
388n6

Rochester Album, 65n6
Rochester Daily Advertiser, 383, 384
Rochester Daily Advertiser and Telegraph, 383nl
Rochester Gem, 271-73, 277
Rochester Historical Library, 384
Rochester Observer, 32

Rochester Republican, 274, 383, 383nl, 384
Rochester Telegraph, 327, 330, 331
Rockwell, CaroHne, 108, 108n85, 375,
459n4

Rockwell, Orin (father of Orrin Porter),
108n85, 375, 459, 459n4
Rockwell, Orrin Porter, 108, 108n85, 344,
378, 379, 382, 405nl2, 459, 459n4;
reminiscence (1872), 402, 406-407
Rockwell, Sarah (Witt), 108n85, 344;
dreams about location of hidden treas¬
ure, 407; baptism of, 18n5, 108n85,
118, 118nll5, 246nl3, 369
Rogers, Joseph, 313n5
Rollin, Michigan, 135
Romney, Jennie, 40
Royal Arch Masons, 171
Royalton, Vermont, 88, 203, 243, 302, 312,
371, 371n2

Sabbatarians, 287nl3

Sackets’ Harbor, Jefferson County, New
York, 20, 24

Sachets' Harbor Courier, 24nl, 25, 27n6
Sockets' Harbor Gazette and Advertiser, 24
Sdem, Massaschusetts, 272, 317, 317n6
Salem Gazette, 293

536

INDEX

Salt Lake City, Utah, 39, 40, 46, 47, 54, 55,
67, 84, 84n7, 109, 135, 144, 165, 180,
181, 186, 218, 241, 245, 251, 254,
254n4, 255nll, 265, 308, 319, 335,
342, 346, 350, 351n5, 355, 366,
404n5

Salt Lake City Directory, 218
Salt Lake Valley, Utah, 39
Sampson, George, 250
Sampson, William T., 141, 141nl0, 250
San Bernardino County, California, 211n7
San Francisco, California, 165
San Francisco Chronicle, 208n3, 210, 210n5
San Jacinto, Riverside County, California,
210, 211

Santa Monica, California, 211
Saratoga, New York, 492n5
Satan, 230

Saunders, Alonzo, 141, 141n9, 144
Saunders, Belinda (White), 200, 252n3
Saunders, Benjamin, 200, 201, 201nl,
201n2, 203

Saunders, Lorenzo, 6n4, 87, 100n42, 104,
137n2, 145n23, 173n2, 181n4, 200,
388, 480; letter to Thomas Gregg
(1885), 175-79

Saunders, Orlando, 139, 140, 144, 200,
252n3

Saunders, Orson, 200-202, 203, 249n22,
249n24

School of the Prophets, 379n5
Schott, Anne. See Whitmer, Anne (Schott)
Schott, Elizabeth. See Whitmer, Elizabeth
(Schott)

Schroeder, Theodore A., 180, 182n6, 218,
219n2

Scodand, 84n7, 94n30, 139
Scovell, Seymour, 49, 49nl2
Scutt, Hiram, 263, 263n3
seer stone(s), 142, 143, 219, 226, 257, 316;
Joseph Smith’s use of, in locating
treasure, 9, 21, 27, 53, 56, 95-100,
137-38, 140, 179, 194, 228-29, 231,

239, 247, 303, 312, 367, 400; in dis¬
covering plates, 53; in translating, 189,
274, 274nl, 276, 292, 306, 314, 328,
331; description of, 95, 95n32, 140,
148, 205, 242, 274, 274nl, 372, 399-
400; found in Chase well, 95, 99-100,
140, 148n8, 239, 239nl, 242, 247,
249, 372-73, 372n5, 399; Stafford
family’s possession of, 173; Hiram
Page’s use of, 315; James Colin Brew¬
ster’s use of, 315. See also urim and
thummim
Selby, Ira, 446
Senate, 263, 264

Seneca, Ontario County, New York,
108n82, 365nl

Seneca County, New York, 324, 345, 420n6
Seneca Lake, Seneca County, New York,
43, 45, 141

Sentinel and Observatory, 46
Sermon on the Mount, 105
Seventies, office of, 310, 381n9
Sexton, 116nl08

Sexton, Pliny, father of Pliny T., 138n8
Sexton, PHny T., 138, 138n8, 250
Seymour, Dr., 481
Seymour, Ezra, 481

Seymour, Zachariah, 90nl8, 417, 424, 425,
426

Shakers, 291, 296
Shakespeare, William, 134
Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, 88,
130, 139, 139n2, 146, 187, 241,
312nl, 361, 412
Shay, Anson, 259, 259n2
Sheets, Elijah F., 402, 404, 404n5
Sheffield, Frederick U., 499, 499nl2, 500
Shel, Harvey, 499, 500
Sheldon, Franklin County, Vermont, 355
Sheldon, Genesee County, New York, 261
Sherman, Mason, 449
Shook, Charles A., 175, 176, 177, 177n9
Short, Theophilus, 452, 488, 492, 492n4

537

INDEX

Shortsville, Ontario County, New York,
224nl, 226, 259, 370n20, 397
Shortsville Enterprise, 224
Siam, 148

Sioux City, Iowa, 390, 390nl, 391, 396
Sketches of Rochester, 383
Skousen, Royal, 479nl
Smedley, James, 429

Smith, Alvin, 48n9, 51, 68, 88, 95, 169, 228,
367; listed in Palmyra road records,
413, 414, 419; contracts for Manches¬
ter land with father, 425; makes first
two payments on family’s land, 425;
debt to Gain Robinson, 434; death of,
48, 49n9, 60, 170, 171, 247, 371, 422,
423, 426, 433, 434n2, 435n9, 444nl,
449, 496; gravestone of, 449-51
Smith, Asael, Jr., 317
Smith, Asael, Sr., 47n2
Smith, Don Carlos, 68, 88, 321, 381, 422,
502, 503

Smith, Emma (Hale), 72n28, 145, 156, 282,
289, 305, 324n8, 340, 368, 376,
439n27; baptism of, 18n6, 117,

368nl2; denies being married by Pdg-
don, 117nlll, 376n24
Smith, Ezra G., 258
Smith, Frederick M., 138, 251, 477
Smith, George Albert, 241, 245nll, 251,
255, 255nll

Smith, Gordon T., 167-68
Smith, Heman C., 468
Smith, Hiram, 444, 452-56, 488, 501
Smith, Hyrum, 45, 45nl4, 49nll, 68, 73, 79,
88, 91n23, 91n24, 95, 120, 120nll9,
139, 145, 145n26, 220, 247, 321n3,
324, 343, 344, 345, 371, 375, 380n5,
381, 404, 422, 423, 474, 503; Hsted in
Palmyra road records, 413, 414, 419;
works for Lemuel Durfee, 458; joins
Presbyterian church, 496; joins
Palmyra’s Mount Moriah Masonic
Lodge, 452-56; lives in cabin on
Smith Manchester property, 244n5,

342n2, 417, 418, 420, 428, 444, 489,
502; as witness to Book of Mormon,
57, 452, 466-67, 470, 472; assists in
pubhshing Book of Mormon, 66,
113, 143-44, 217; preaches in Man¬
chester, 74, 75, 78n7; visited by Pres¬
byterian committee, 492n5, 496-501;
meets Solomon Chamberlain, 41-42,
44; Hsted in Manchester assessment
records, 418, 428, 444-45; unpaid
debts of, 172; debt to Gain Robinson,
434, 436, 439; debt to Cains Robin¬
son, 434; debt to Lemuel Durfee, 458;
suits against, before justice Nathan
Pierce, 487-95; sued by Levi Daggett,
418, 456, 488-89, 492-94, 499nll;
attempted arrest in Manchester, 456,
488-90, 494-95; warned by Joseph to
beware of Freemasons, 456; moves to
ColesviUe, 4, 91n24, 428, 502nl; as
missionary in ColesviUe area, 339;
missionary companion of WiUiam E.
McLeUin, 301

Smith, Jerusha (Barden), 344, 418, 439,
503

Smith, John, 317

Smith, John Henry, 255nl 1

Smith, Joseph, Jr., 4, 6, 14, 15n3, 23, 24, 30,
47, 49, 49nll, 51, 53, 56, 58, 64,
65n6, 67nl2, 68, 72, 72n27, 73, 78n7,
80nl7, 83, 85, 88, 100n42, 122nl24,
123, 127, 129, 130, 132, 134, 139,
146n2, 147, 154n3, 155, 162nl9, 169,
,175, 176, 183, 195, 196, 197, 203,
210n6, 222, 223, 226, 234, 243, 250,
254, 259, 260, 278, 284, 286nll, 289,
290, 291, 293, 302, 304-305n5, 309,
310, 321, 324, 342, 346, 347, 348,
351n5, 353, 356, 359, 363, 365, 367,
371, 391, 404, 404n5, 405nl5,

407n23, 423, 449, 463nl, 463n2, 469,
483, 483nl; birth of, 88, 139, 187-88,
241, 312, 312nl, 361, 399; character
of, 21, 25, 49, 56, 60, 67, 68, 69, 93,
132, 140, 147, 156, 165-66, 172, 203-
204, 226, 235, 241, 251, 266, 279,
282, 284-85, 303-304, 312, 325, 343,

538

INDEX

372, 391; Hmited education of, 6, 93,
94n28, 255, 297, 302n2; appearance
of, 130, 140, 154, 156, 211, 325; re¬
ligious claims began as a prank, 391;
as coauthor of Book of Mormon with
Oliver Cowdery, 368; as “Author and
Proprietor’’ of Book of Mormon, 56,
144, 369, 383, 463, 463n2, 482; as
prophet, 300, 374, 377, 384, 395, 399,
400, 405nll; as “Prophet, Seer, and
Revelator,” 156, 325, 351; as “second
Messiah,” 289, 295; gift of interpret¬
ing dreams, 160; inscribes flyleaf of
Bible, 478; treasure-seeking in Salem,
Massachusetts, 317, 317n6; oflicial
History of, 464; death of, 313n5
— activities, Palmyra/Manchester
— in connection with treasure searching:
6, 8, 9, 15, 21, 25, 50, 56,
66-67, 68, 69-70, 108, 119,
130-31, 154, 173n2, 190-91,
198, 203-205, 212, 235, 255,
257, 279, 285-86, 288, 294,
315, 335, 387-88, 407, 460; at
Miner’s Hill, 6n4, 130, 140,
173, 255; at Hill Cumorah,
6n4, 50, 53, 60, 228, 400; on
Stafford property, 173; on Pe¬
ter Ingersoll’s farm, 392; uses a
divining rod, 97, 97n37, 140,
141, 149, 212, 303, 312; as
water dowser, 140; use of seer
stone in finding treasure and
stolen goods, 9, 21, 27, 53, 56,
66, 95-100, 130, 137-38, 140,
148, 149, 188, 194, 197, 205,
219, 226, 228-29, 231, 239,
242, 247, 303, 312, 367, 373,
400; searches for Captain
Kidd’s treasure, 130, 154, 303;
as fortune-teller, 21, 27, 96,
132, 154, 226, 247; sacrifices
black sheep, 69, 98-99, 166,
184-85, 205, 229-31, 247-48,
248nl9, 251-53, 254, 257,
373, 392, 392n5

— in connection with plates, Book of Mor¬

mon, and church: 182, 221, 265-
67, 436nl6; discovery of
plates, 15, 15n3, 21-22, 41, 43,
44, 53, 56, 61, 74, 124, 137,
141, 142, 237, 248, 263, 395;
removal of plates from hill,
200, 201-202, 215, 224, 305;
atmospheric phenomena asso¬
ciated with, 102, 142, 150,
188n7, 189, 189n7, 201,
201nl, 355-58, 407; appear¬
ance of an “enormous toad”
with the plates, 201, 201n2,
306; attacked by devil when
removing plates from hill,
306-307, 308; pursued when
bringing plates home, 189,
189n8; injures thumb in fight
with two men, 178; hides
plates, 340; under hearth, 102,
309n2, 310-11, 336n3, 374,
403, 403n2; attempt of for¬
tune-teller to find plates, 335-
38, 340; substitutes plates with
bundle of sand, sand in box, or
brick-tile, 103, 131, 178, 181-
82, 182n5, 218-19, 219n2,
393, 393n6, 395n9; relates
story of finding plates to peo¬
ple in Palmyra/Manchester,
212, 215; told many inconsis¬
tent stories, 218; translates in
cave, 112, 202, 210n6, 216,
361, 362, 362n7, 375; holds
secret meetings in cave, 232-
33, 235; shows eight witnesses
plates, 333-34, 465, 467; re¬
turns plates to cave in Hill Cu¬
morah, 379-82, 379-80n5,
388n7; writes preface to Book
of Mormon, 479-82; negoti¬
ates with Grandin to publish
Book of Mormon, 113-14,
327, 362, 376, 473; visits
Thurlow Weed in Rochester
concerning printing Book of
Mormon, 328-31, 328nl; pre-

539

INDEX

sent when printing com¬
menced on Book of Mormon,
161, 164; not present during a
major portion of the printing,
217; threatened to “thrash”
Henry O’Reilly of Rochester
for publishing negative review
of Book of Mormon, 384; or¬
ganizes church, 117, 145;
preaches in Palmyra/Man¬
chester, 214, 214nl7, 325n9,
391; speaks in tongues, 391;
attempts to walk on water,
236, 236n3, 392; confirms
Ezra Thayre and Northrop
Sweet, 79; preaches in Ezra
Thayre’s barn, 79-80, 80nl7,
214nl7; signs as witness to
“Missionaries Covenant,”
419, 506, 506n3

— miscellaneous matters, 15, 80nl7, 82,
92, 145, 145n26, 150nl7, 157,
159, 177, 181, 213, 236, 247,
261-62, 313, 324n8, 325n9,
348n3, 458n2; not listed in
1820 census of Farmington
(Manchester), 422; member of
debating club, 50, 50nl4; at¬
tends revivals, 94, 400; joins
Methodist class, 94, 94n31,
400, 400n8; as Methodist ex-
horter, 50; attends school,
170, 173, 258, 386, 406;
works for Lemuel Durfee,
167-68, 244-45, 244n7, 458;
worked for Russell Stoddard,
258; makes sap buckets for
William Stafford, 252, 254;
makes cedar tub for Balinda
(White) Saunders, 252n3;
fights with Moses C. Smith,
258; pulls sticks with Ezra
Pierce, 258, 258n8; obtains
paper and theological books
from store in Rochester, prior
to publishing Book of Mor¬
mon, 397, 398; credit to Abra¬

ham Fish account, 15n3, 460;
possible debt to Lemuel Dur¬
fee, 458; Martin Harris gives
$50 to, 22, 25; and buys suit
for, 116, 116nl08; gives
Thurlow Weed demonstra¬
tion of reading with stone,
328, 330, 331; meets W. W.
Phelps, 5, 7n9, 31; prophecies,
53; dreams of Palmyra’s de¬
struction, 162; flees Palmyra to
avoid creditors, 23, 27, 127

— activities. Harmony, 78, 105n54,
142nll, 142nl3, 143nl7,
340n2, 342n2, 423nl,

439n27, 458n2; searches for
treasure in, 426, 426n4; moves
to, 22, 26, 458n3; arrives with
head bandaged, 142; dictates
Book of Mormon, 15, 22, 26,
32, 52, 66, 274; translates from
behind curtain, 178; translates
with stone(s), 189, 192, 197,
274, 274nl, 276, 298n3, 305,
306, 314, 400; replaces lost
translation, 111-12; angelic
ordination of, 28, 30; baptized
by Cowdery, 117nll0,
118nll6, 189n7, 368nl2,
377n25; baptizes Cowdery,
118nll4; not baptized by
Rigdon, 377, 377n25

— activities. South Bainb ridge: mar¬
riage in, 72, 72n28, 376n24;
court hearing in, 95n32

— activities, Colesville: lives with
Joseph Knight, 117nl09; at¬
tempts to walk on water,
236n3, 392n4; writes letter in,
warning Hyrum to beware of
Freemasons, 456

— activities, Fayette, 9; shows three
witnesses plates, 333; obtains
copyright for Book of Mor¬
mon, 461; baptizes Solomon
Chamberlain in, 39, 43, 45

— activities, Ohio and Missouri

540

INDEX

(1831-38), 120, 126,301,404,
405nll, 465n2; writes letter,
instructing Harris to bring
Books of Mormon, 9n7, 16n8;
interprets tongues spoken by
Brigham Young, 395; pro¬
duces Inspired Version of Bi¬
ble, 478; as Lieut. -General of
Nauvoo Legion, 156
— revelations of, 4, 19, 22, 25, 116,
145, 166, 298, 313, 315, 325,
330, 348, 348n9, 418, 469,
473-74, 479, 504

— visions of, 162, 163, 247, 288, 320,
322, 328, 400; angel(s), 74,
305, 320, 322, 379; “first,”
265, 266; “second vision,”
267, 267n2; angel (1823), 141,
146n2, 275, 279, 292, 295,
359, 368, 373-74, 400; angel
(1827), 100, 146n2, 300
Smith, Joseph, Sr., 15n3, 41, 44, 49, 51, 68,
72, 73, 83, 88, 88n5, 89nl5, 89nl6,
90, 93, 95, 98, 117, 125, 132, 139,
145, 145n26, 147-48, 148, 155, 156,
157, 161, 164, 167, 189, 190, 193,
194, 195, 196, 243, 247, 249n24, 253,
263, 263n2, 267, 284, 308, 309,
321n3, 342, 342n2, 343, 348, 361,
366, 369, 380n5, 395, 404, 420, 422,
427, 433, 434n3, 436nl3, 436nl6,
438n25, 439n27, 449, 452, 457, 458,
458n2, 458n3, 503, 503n3; character
of, 56, 68, 152, 172, 188, 194, 266,
282, 284, 293-94, 312, 366, 399; early
history of, in New Hampshire, 47,
47n2, 59; moves to Palmyra, 47, 59,
243, 361n2, 371; listed in Palmyra
road records, 411-14, 419; as Palmyra
merchant, 89, 203, 282, 284, 294,
361, 371, 399, 412; may have worked
for Joseph D. Hayward, 413; moves
to Manchester, 67; contracts for Man¬
chester land with Alvin, 417, 425;
appears on Manchester assessment re¬
cords, 441-45; as a UniversaHst, 48,
59, 366; works for the Thayres, 188,

193; for Lemuel Durfee, 458, 459; as
a cooper, 423; as a money-digger, 9,
48, 50, 60, 189n7, 191, 193-94, 198,
228, 229-30, 316, 361, 373; as a for¬
tune-teller, 130, 303; digs well for
Clark Chase, 204-205; digs cave on
Miner property, 249; searches for
treasure with Josiah S to well in Har¬
mony, 426, 426n4; not a member of
Canandaigua masonic lodge, 456; tes¬
timony of seeing the plates, 466,
466n3, 472; as a somnambuhst, 190;
claims heaHng powers, 282; baptism
of, 18n5, 118, 118nll4, 118nll5,
246nl3; appointed by revelation to
sell Book of Mormon, 72, 119,
119nll8, 133; agreement with Martin
Harris regarding sale of Book of Mor¬
mon, 418-19, 483-85; sued, in Man¬
chester court, 418; before justice
Nathan Pierce, 487-95; by neighbors,
48; by Lemuel Durfee, Jr., 15n3; by
Palmyra resident, 120, 134; by Russell
Stoddard, 427n4; represents son in
case of Levi Daggett v. Hymm Smith,
493; in debt, to Lemuel Durfee, 428,
458, 459, 486; to Gain Robinson,
434, 435, 438, 439; to Cains Robin¬
son, 434, 434-35, 436, 437, 438; to
Samuel Jennings, 446; pays debt, to
Gain Robinson, 435-36, 439; to
Cains Robinson, 435, 437; attempts
to pay debts with Books of Mormon,
120-21, 134; jailed in Canandaigua
for unpaid debt, 4, 428; baptizes in
Manchester, 192, 192nl3, 194;

claimed originator of Mormon fraud,
188-89; moves to Ohio, 120,
120nll9, 127; treasure seeking in
Ohio, 316-17; as church patriarch and
president, 72, 117, 117nll3, 120,
127, 316, 317, 369, 376
Smith, Joseph F., 254, 265
Smith, Katharine, 68, 88, 172, 371, 422, 503,
503n3; rumored affair with Sidney
Rigdon, 71n21, 125nl29
Smith, Lovina, 418, 503

541

INDEX

Smith, Lucy (Joseph Sr. and Lucy’s daugh¬
ter), 88, 371, 371n3, 422, 428, 503
Smith, Lucy (Mack), 3, 4, 49, 51, 53, 88,
88n5, 90n21, 91n22, 94n28, 139,
151, 158, 159, 169, 171, 172,
192nl3, 242, 336n2, 344, 356,
361n2, 367, 379n2, 382, 395,

395n9, 412, 417, 417n3, 418, 420,
425, 426n4, 427, 435n9, 436,

436nl4, 436nl6, 438, 439n27,

444nl, 449, 458nl, 464, 465,

465nl, 465n2, 503, 503n3; charac¬
ter of, 48, 60, 147, 148, 150, 152,
173, 266, 303; smokes tobacco in
pipe, 159; early beliefs about calling
of Joseph Jr., 212, 255, 255nl0,
399; nurses Eleanor Baldwin, 169-
70; manufactures oil cloths, 232,
367; dreams/visions of, 60, 61, 158;
dreams about location of hidden
treasure, 407; attempts to borrow
peep stone from Stafford family,
173; joins Presbyterian church, 211,
496; lifts plates, 213, 470; baptism
of, 18n5, 118, 118nll5, 246nl3,
369; prophesying of, 232, 367; vis¬
ited by Presbyterian committee,
492n5, 496-501; moves to Water¬
loo, 428

Smith, Mary (Fielding), 466
Smith, Mary (Hyrum’s daughter), 503
Smith, Moses C., 258
Smith, Robert W., 499, 500
Smith, Samuel Harrison, 68, 88, 145,
145n26, 177, 300n2, 308, 309, 350,
371, 381, 422, 439, 439n27, 456,
503; works for Lemuel Durfee,
244n7, 427, 457, 458, 458nl, 459;
debt to Lemuel Durfee, 458, 459; as
witness to Book of Mormon, 57,
351, 466, 472; visited by Presbyte¬
rian committee, 492n5, 496-501;
visits father in jail, 3; moves family
to Waterloo, 428
Smith, Shubel, 434n3, 452nl
Smith, Sophronia, 68, 84n9, 88, 107,

124nl25, 162, 162nl8, 371, 375, 422,
439n27, 497

Smith, William, 68, 88, 90n21, 169, 170,
182n5, 371, 389nl, 422, 423, 434,
434n3, 438, 440, 459, 502

Smith, WiUiam F., 434n3

Smith County, Tennessee, 299

Smith family, 7, 8, 41, 43, 44, 47, 47n4,
50, 51, 53, 55, 59, 60, 72, 89nl4,
89nl5, 89nl6, 90, 90nl9, 90n20,
90n21, 91n23, 91n24, 92, 93, 95,
98, 102, 108, 128, 137, 139, 140,
140n7, 141, 141nl0, 150, 151, 172,
173, 184, 186, 187n3, 193, 199,

200, 204, 228, 233, 235, 243,
243n3, 244n7, 246nl2, 252, 259,

265, 266, 267, 302n2, 305, 306,

310, 389, 395, 403n2, 420, 433,

449, 456, 496; general character of,
220, 241, 255, 285, 302, 303, 304,
372, 389; suspected of steaHng, 68,
92, 92-93n27, 187, 193, 375; em¬
ployment of, 204, 232, 241, 245;
produces large quantities of maple
sugar and molasses, 92, 92n26, 284,
284nl0; treasure-seeking activities
of, 241, 285-86, 294, 317; moves to
Palmyra, 241; occupies Samuel Jen¬
nings cabin in Palmyra, 243-44,
244n4, 413, 415-21; said to be
“squatters,” 67, 90, 204, 241, 245,
245nl0, 372; moves to Manchester,
204, 241, 259, 302; listed in 1820
census of Farmington (Manchester),
422-23; builds cabin in Manchester,
204, 413, 416-20, 428, 489, 502;
builds frame house, 204, 245, 372,
419; activities associated with Man¬
chester land, 424-31; land assess¬
ment records deafrng with, 424-28,
441-45; loses Manchester property,
427, 429-31, 457; rents farm from
Lemuel Durfee, 244n7; moves back
into cabin with Hyrum’s family,
244n5, 417, 428, 502; listed in 1830
census of Manchester, 418, 502-503

Smith family (of Rochester), 272-73

542

INDEX

Smith Press, 144
Smoot, Reed, 263
Smyrnia, New York, 354
Snow, Artemisia (Beaman), 402, 403, 403nl,
403n2, 405, 405nl5

Snow, Erastus, 402, 403nl, 403n2, 404n5,
408

Snow, Zerubbabel, 35n6
Sodom, 162

South Bainbridge, Chenango County, New
York, 95n32, 376n24
South Dennis, Massachusetts, 35n6
South Hampton, New York, 498
South Jordan Ward, Utah, 386n2
South worth, Sylvester, 487, 488, 489, 491,
491n3, 492, 493

Spafford, Onondaga County, New York, 39,
359

Spaniards, 303

Spanish Fork, Utah, 346, 359
Spanish Inquisition, 287
Sparks, Amos, 1 1

Spaulding, Solomon, 50, 56n2, 60, 67nl2,
109n89, 126nl31, 127, 131, 134, 145,
145n21, 150, 166, 175, 206, 224,
361n5, 368, 390, 394
Spear, Philetus B., 129-31
spectacles (magic or divine). See urim and
thummim
Sphynx, 156
Springfield, lUinois, 25
St. George, Utah, 402, 403nl
St. Lawrence County, New York, 321n3
St. Louis, Lincoln County, Ontario, Canada,
261

St. Louis, Missouri, 55

St. Louis Daily Globe- Democrat, 208n2, 210

Stacy, John, 264, 264n4

Stafford, Christopher, 108n82, 108n86

Stafford, Comefius, 108n82

Stafford, Gad, 107, 375

Stafford, John, 246nl3

Stafford, Joshua, 107, 375, 379n2
Stafford, WiUiam, 69, 69nl7, 98, 98n38,
99n39, 107, 166, 185n2, 229, 230,
231, 231n6, 247, 248nl9, 251, 252,
254, 373, 375, 392n5, 420, 466n3
Stafford Road, 89nl6, 246nl2, 246, 284n8,
411, 412, 413, 416, 420, 420n8, 423,
446

Stafford Street, 47, 51, 53, 67, 89nl6, 91,
241, 246, 246nl3, 366, 372, 399, 412,
415, 416
Staffords, 254

Stamford, Connecticut, 139
Stevenson, Edward, 184, 185, 380n5, 467;
reminiscence (1893), 386-88

Stiles, Phineas, 20, 21, 21nl, 21 n3, 25
Stockton, Benjamin B., 496
Stoddard, Calvin, 84, 84n9, 85, 106-107,
124-25, 124nl25, 125nl28, 162,
162n21, 369-70, 375, 497
Stoddard, Mr., 426, 490nl
Stoddard, RusseU, 246, 246nl2, 246nl3,
258, 427n4, 490, 490nl

Stoddard, Squire, 425
Stoddards, 254
Story of the Mormons, 221nl
Stout, Allen J., 265
Stout, C. P., 439

StoweU, Josiah, 91n22, 101n42, 388, 426,
426n4

Stringham, Esther (Knight), 18n6

Stringham, Julia, 18n6

Stringham, WiUiam, 18n6

Strong, Timothy S., 46, 62

Suffield, Connecticut, 291n22

Sunbury, Ohio, 466, 470

Sunday Mail Movement, 287, 287nl2, 288

Susquehanna, region of, 142, 143, 144

Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, 274

Susquehanna River, 127, 141

Sussex, New Jersey, 221nl

SwartzeU, William, 483nl

543

INDEX

Sweet, Hezekiah, 78n5
Sweet, Northrop, 78; biographical data,
78n5; baptism of, 78, 78n7, 79,
246nl3, 324n9
Swensen, Albert D., 40
Swift, John, 449

Tanner, Nathan, 470

TarbeU, Mr., 376n24

Taylor, Edward W., 218, 218nl, 219

Taylor, John, 39, 40, 164, 315, 316, 319

teacher(s), 283

Teall, 397

Templeton, Worchester County, Massachu¬
setts, 3, 316n3
ten tribes, 274, 278, 322
Tennessee, 299
Terry, David, 261
Terry, Hannah, 261
Terry, Jacob E., 261, 262
Terry, Jane, 261
Terry, ParshaU, 261-62
Thayre, E. C., 460

Thayre, Ezra, 107, 214nl7, 246nl3, 324n9,
325n9, 375; biographical data, 73;
reminiscence (1862), 73-81
Thayre, Joel, 186, 187, 193, 460
Thayre, Levi, 186, 187, 193, 460
Third Presbyterian Church, Rochester,
New York, 287nl3

three witnesses (to Book of Mormon), 14,
57, 121, 142, 144nl9, 179, 226,
226n8, 271, 275n2, 304n4, 332, 333,
343, 350, 384, 384n2, 396nl5, 464,
465, 465n2, 468
Throop, Enos T., 170
Thome, Chester C., 172
Thum Moroni, 248

Tiffany, Alexander R., 120, 120nl20, 134
Timby, F. A., 218nl
Times and Seasons, 196n20, 315, 317
Tinsley, Henry G., 210, 210n5, 217

Tiverton, Rhode Island, 457

“To the Mormon Money Diggers,” 316

Tomhnson, Mr., 350

Topsfield, Massachusetts, 47n2

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 261

Tower of Babel, 104, 462

Townsend, Jesse, 496; letter to Phineas Stiles
(1833), 20-23; letter to Elisha Camp
(1834), 24

Troy Times, 62, 65, 329, 329n3, 329n5, 330,
330n6

TmmbuU County, Ohio, 296
Tucker, Abner, 124, 124nl27, 369
Tucker, J. N. T., 34-36
Tucker, Luther, 383nl
Tucker, Pomeroy, 15n3, 20, 21nl, 34,
35n4, 82, 132, 140n6, 141n8, 143,
144, 146, 157, 161, 162, 166,
201nl, 203, 213nl5, 218, 222,
233nll, 243n3, 244n4, 245n9,

246nl3, 247nl8, 248n21, 278nl,
313n5, 329n3, 355, 361n4, 363,
366, 371, 391, 391n3, 396, 400n8,
412, 419, 419n4, 456, 460, 475,
484; biographical data, 62; reminis¬
cence (1858), 62-72; history (1867),
87-128

Tunbridge, Vermont, 47 n2
Turley, Theodore, 467-68, 470-71
Turner, Jonathan B., 25

Turner, Orsamus, 59, 146, 366, 416, 423,
483; account of early Mormonism
(1851), 46-54

Twelve Mormon Homes . . ., 402
“Two Strange Men,” 224
Tyler, Daniel, 466

Union, Branch County, Michigan, 141n9
Union Home Missionary Meeting, 146
Union Theological Seminary, 259

Uniontown, Fayette County, Pennsylvania,
332

United States, 35n6, 222, 250, 276, 338,

544

INDEX

352, 353, 402, 429, 456, 461, 462,
463

United States Navy, 141
Universalist(s), 48, 60, 366
University of Rochester, 259
Upper Canada, 261

urim and thummim, 29, 103, 104, 105, 126,
127, 141, 142, 146n2, 150, 188,
188n6, 192, 195, 197, 306, 306n7,
394, 408; sometimes called “inter¬
preters,” 29; “spectacles,” 29, 52, 61,
103, 104, 105, 111, 126, 135, 141,
142, 150, 206, 214, 216, 222, 298,
298n3, 305, 306, 314, 368, 374, 394,
400, 408

Utah, 55, 73, 83n3, 84, 124, 142nl4, 145,
152, 165, 184, 194, 265, 310, 339,
346, 350, 359, 381n9, 382, 483
Utica, New York, 6, 461

Van Alstine, Sanford D., 433, 453
Van Buren, Crawford County, Arkansas,
319

Van Buren, Martin, 170, 281
Van Camp, William, 64, 139, 140, 141, 143,
144; biographical data, 140-41n8
Van Cott, Lovina, 324, 324n7
Vanderhoof, Ehsha W., 239-40
Vanderhoof, Jacob, 239n2
Vanderhoof, John, 239n2
Vandruver, Azel, 102-103, 103n50, 133,
374, 456

Vermont, 55, 56, 67nl2, 87, 89nl5, 302,
363, 364

Victor, New York, 503n3

Vienna, New York, 286

Vienna Road, 50, 50nl5, 89nl5, 412

W. C., 235-36
Wadsworth, James, 424
Wales, PoUy, 73
Walker, Mrs., 226

Walters, human, 8, 107, 286nll, 335,

336n2, 338n4, 375, 405-406, 405nl2,
405nl3

Walters, Wesley P., 14, 412, 416-17n2, 444,
489

Walworth, Wayne County, New York, 236
Ward, Mr., 495

Wardboro, Bear Lake County, Idaho, 310

Warsaw, Illinois, 46

Warsaw Signal, 152nl

Washington, D. C., 281

Washington County, New York, 359

Washington County, Utah, 39

Waterloo, Seneca County, New York, 9,
91n24, 365, 428

Watertown, New York, 24, 25
Watts’ [s] hymns, 134

Wayne County, New York, 16, 120,
120nl20, 170, 170n6, 178, 212, 248,
284, 298, 383, 419n5, 453, 477
Wayne County Grand Jury, 186
Wayne County Inquirer, 274
Wayne County Journal, 251 , 397-98
Wayne County Medical Society, 171

Wayne Democratic Press, 62, 64, 140, 140-
41n8

Wayne Sentinel, 15n3, 62, 64, 65n6, 66,
100n41, 113, 143, 155, 157, 164,
186, 216, 219, 220, 221, 222,
279n3, 329, 362, 376, 407n23, 451,
460, 473, 475

Weed, Thurlow, 62, 65, 114, 133, 206-207,
362, 376; reminiscences (1854, 1858,
1880, & 1884), 327-31

Weeks, Absalom, 68nl6, 91n25, 245nll
Weeks, Ruth, 91n25
WeUs, Henry, 412, 412nl
WeUs, Mr., 320

WeUs, Sarah (Daggett), 412, 412nl
Wendell, Franklin County, Massachusetts,
20

Wesley P. Walters, 14
West, Pelatiah, 498, 499, 500

545

INDEX

West Bloomfield, New York, 355

Westerfield, Chautaugua County, New
York, 315

Western Adventurer, 152nl

Western Farmer, 446

Western Fire Insurance Company, 13

Western Presbyterian Church, Palmyra, 20,
171, 492n5, 496-501

Western Reserve, 280
White, David, 498, 498n4, 500
White, James, 421, 421nll
White, John, 498
Whiting, Bowen, 365, 365nl
Whitmer, Anne (Schott), 18n5

Whitmer, Catherine. See Page, Catherine
(Whitmer)

Whitmer, Christian, 44, 107, 375, 466, 471;
baptism of, 18n5

Whitmer, David, 79, 107, 144, 346, 348,
375, 380n5, 388n7, 419, 464, 465nl,
474, 506, 506n3; as witness to Book
of Mormon, 57, 142, 300, 300n3,
332-33, 468, 470; describes plates,
305n5

Whitmer, Elizabeth (Schott), 18n5
Whitmer, EHzabeth Ann, 1 8n5

Whitmer, Jacob, 107, 375, 467, 471; baptism
of, 18n5

Whitmer, John, 79, 107, 375, 465nl, 467-
68, 470-71, 472
Whitmer, John C., 467
Whitmer, Mary (Musselman), 18n5
Whitmer, Peter, Jr., 79, 107, 275, 275n2,
319, 325, 375, 419, 466, 472, 504,
505, 506, 506n3

Whitmer, Peter, Sr., 324, 326nl3, 348, 415,
504; baptism of, 1 8n5

Whitmer family, 44, 128, 325, 464
Whitney, 26
Wilcox, Martin, 278nl
Wiley, Allen, 1 1

Wilkinson, Jemima, 48, 272, 366

Willers, Diedrich, Jr., 210n6
Wilhams, Dr., 55

Williams, George N., 498, 499, 500, 501
Williams, Zebulon, 412, 420, 420n6
Williams College, 13

Williamson, Ontario County, New York,
70nl8, 78n8

WiUson, Jared, 13, 14, 16
Wilson, Mr., 152

Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana,

Windham, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania,
339

Windham, New Hampshire, 47n2
Windsor, New York, 423nl
Windsor County, Vermont, 399
Winter Quarters, Douglas County, Ne¬
braska, 316n3
Wisconsin, 196, 220
Wisconsin State Historical Society, 180
witchcraft, 272

Wittingham, Windham County, Vermont,
335

Wood, Wilford, 479nl
Woodworth, Abner, 490n2, 491n2
Words of Mormon, The, 479, 480nl
Words of Righteousness to All Men, The, 315
Works, Miriam, 335
Wright, Ira, 395nl2
Wright, Marietta (IngersoU), 395nl2
Wymetal, Wilhelm Patter von, 135, 137,
138n8, 172

Yale University, 20, 221nl, 291
Yates County, New York, 491n2
Young, Brigham, 39, 42, 43, 45, 67, 82,
87, 164, 310, 339, 347, 350, 350nl,
354, 354n9, 355, 358n4, 388n7,
395, 402, 405, 405nll, 405nl2,
405nl5, 406, 406nl6, 406nl7, 407,
408n26; biographical data, 335; ac¬
counts of early Mormonism (1855

546

INDEX

& 1857), 335-38; (1877), 378-82;
(1873), 404-405, 407-408
Young, Clarissa (Hamilton), 350
Young, Fanny. See Murray, Fanny (Young)
Young, John, 351n5, 358, 358n5; biographi¬
cal data, 358n4
Young, Joseph, 352

Young, Lucy (Cowdery), 350
Young, Phineas H., 39, 42, 43, 45, 404;
biographical data, 350; autobiography
(1836), 350-54
Young, Rhoda, 354n9

Zion, Missouri, 118

547

Volume Three includes accounts of:

The first Mormon church services, held in the Young Men’s Association third-story
hall in Palmyra, in a neighbor’s barn, and at the Smith family residence.

The first baptisms conducted near the Smith residence at a mill pond in Hathaway
Brook.

The translation of the Book of Mormon, said by some to have occurred, in part, in a
cave dug into Miner’s Hill, north of the Hill Cumorah.

The return of the gold plates to a cave.

The Smith family’s Palmyra residency: upstairs from their cake and beer shop on
Main Street, to a cabin on Stafford Road, a cabin in neighboring Manchester, and
their small frame house in Manchester.

The Smiths’ daily work — Joseph Sr. as shop owner, pork packer, and barrel maker,
Joseph Jr. as a hired farm hand, living away from his family at age fourteen.

Excerpts:

‘‘When Hyrum [Smith] began to speak, every word touched me to the inmost soul. I
thought every word was pointed to me. God punished me and riveted me to the spot.
I could not help myself. The tears rolled down my cheeks. I was very proud and stub¬
born. There were many there who knew me, [so] I dare not look up. I sat until I
recovered myself before I dare look up. They sung some hymns and that filled me
with the Spirit. When Hyrum got through, he picked up a book and said, ‘Here is the
Book of Mormon.’ I said, ‘Let me see it.’ I then opened the book, and I received a
shock with such exquisite joy that no pen can write and no tongue can express. I shut
the book and said, ‘What is the price of it?’ ‘Fourteen shillings’ was the reply. I said,
‘I’ll take the book.’ I opened it again, and I felt a double portion of the Spirit, that I
did not know whether I was in the world or not. I felt as though I was truly in heaven.”
— Ezra Thayre, reminiscence for 1830

“The incidents I am about to relate would not be worth repeating only as illustra¬
tive of the wild fanaticism, superstition, and credulity of persons upon whose veracity
mainly depends the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. That such a book, replete
with self-evident plagiarisms and humbuggery that sink it below the dignity of criti¬
cism, should find tens of thousands of persons of ordinary intelligence throughout
Christendom, who have accepted it as a revelation from God to man, is indeed a
moral phenomenon unparalleled in the nineteenth century. In view of these things it
is not strange that some daring iconoclast should go forth with his merciless sledge,
breaking in fragments the shrines and idols that for thousands of years have struck
with reverential awe the hearts of untold millions of men, and leading captive the
human will.” — Stephen S. Harding, Palmyra native and later territorial governor of
Utah, to Pomeroy Thicker, former Palmyra postmaster and editor of the Wayne Sentinel

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Texts

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "Early Mormon Documents: Volume 3"

See other formats